Mai and the Harem Mystery Club
by sgurlrox67
Summary: Real Summary inside. Naru is head of an all boys school mystery club. Mai is a member of the student councel. When Mai's school begins to experience's unexplainable supernatural attacks on the schools students, how will there path's cross?
1. Summary

This could, just possibly be a story. I dought anyone will even notice this chicken scratch at first, but if you appear interested in it, please review and I will be very happy to start writing it. I just want to see if there is any interest. AT ALL!

I hope you enjoy this preview, and want more (an actual chapter) in the, hopefully near, future

What if Naru is head of the mystery club in an all boys school? With his group being full of the most attractive guys in the school, and possibly, all of Japan? This didn't affect Taniyama Mai though. She was just an ordinary high school girl who was a part of the student counsel. Forced into asking the help of the harem group after strange attacks occur around the school.

Hate may occur first to her at first, but what if that hate turns into something more?


	2. Chapter One: Brothers

Chapter One: Brother's

The late afternoon sun glittered through the buildings wide edged windows. Brining in a melting heat with it. Shielding her eyes from the blinding light that the sun brought in, Mai Taniyama stood. Walking towards the all boy school receptionist to ask for the fifteenth, yes _fifteenth, _time that day, how much longer it would take. The female shoed Mai on her way with a short "Mr Davis will be ready in a few more minutes" not even lifting her eyes from the computer screen that she stared at. _Definitely _a dating site. For sure.

_Hah! _Mai snorted mentally _I doubt that it will be in a few minutes, after all, you said the same damn thing forty minutes ago._

Mai walked back to were she had been seated before. In front of a large European window, with blinding rays of light in her face. Irritated by the fact that she had ever agreed to the fact of coming to the school. To the mystery club, located in an all boys school. At the time, she hadn't even questioned why the boys of the council had asked her to come to the school instead of going themselves. It hit her later on that there were no female students located in the school. The fact that the school was a high prestige all boys school, reaching her ears minutes after arrival. She felt like such an idiot.

_When I get my hands around their skirt chasing throats, I'll-! _But Mai's threats were cut short once the door opened and walked in a very tall man. Mai's thought's were chased away as her eyes followed up his lean figure, to his straight lips, not a hint of emotion showing, to his seaweed coloured hair, and finally meeting his icy green eyes. Seeing the irritation in everything about him. His structure, his face, his eyes, and above all, his voice. Which was now telling, possibly ordering, Mai to come to the club room.

"Mr Davis is ready" he said at the very end of his, practically forced, sentence. That was the last Mai heard from him as she followed him down the halls of the all boys school. The rich prestige school could do no wrong, everything about the paint, furnishings, and school itself spelled out _money_. Ah, yes, money. How nice it would be to have money to spend on such a thing as school.

Mai, having lost her parents at a very young age, could barley afford the schools entrance fee that she attended. That was why she was so lucky, having her school so kind with money troubled orphans like herself.

_Ahhhh, to have money. _She drifted off _I would definitely eat __misoshiru every day. _Catching herself beginning to drool, Mai wasn't focused enough to notice the lack of movement in front of her. Banging into the man that had brought her to the clubs office.

"Ah! Ashikarazu" Mai bowed her head quickly, staring at the floor as her face flooded with red.

_W-Why do I feel the need to apologize so sincerely! I just bumped into him! Come on Taniyama Mai, your better than this! _Even with encouragement from herself, she just couldn't bring herself to raise her head and meet _though's_ piercing, and dare she say it, scary, eyes that she knew would be there.

Instead of a response, which she had hoped for, nothing remotely close to "Don't apologize I'm fine" or "Don't worry about it" came, instead, she received silence. Mustering up the courage to raise her head, she only caught a sharp glare from the tall man.

_W-WHAT THE HELL?! _Mai glared at the back of the unsettling man _WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! ALL I DID WAS BUMP INTO YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU DAMN COLD __GIANT__! _Of course she didn't _dare _say this to him, rather, she just _knew _he knew he had done something wrong. Well, that's what Mai kept telling herself.

And that's when the doors of the club room opened, and out walked the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. He held deep blue eyes, as the deep as the ocean could get, with straight black hair, and pale enough skin to be a porcelain doll. Was he a model?

"Miss Taniyama Mai, I presume?" he gave her a toothy smile, his eyes lightening up as much as his face. Unlike the possible sadist that held the door open for her. Mai just gave a silent, clueless, looking nod as she was invited into the large room. Being seated on a nearby chair, tea already being served to her by the male. He continued on "My name is Eugene Davis." He said, setting down two separate cups, one holding sugar, and the other, milk. Mai's eyes traveled around the room, catching the colour of the room; a musty gold wall paper, with small lines of cream traveling down it; the birch floorboards; and the European styled furnishings. Much like the rest of the school, possibly classier. But in the end, her eyes were always lead back to the beautiful man before her. His eyes glittering with some kind of emotion. Humor?

That's when she relised the still, and unbarring silence that surrounded her. So quiet that she wouldn't be surprised if Mr Davis could here her heart pounding against her chest right then.

"Ah!" She gasped, quickly standing up without relising that a cup of prepared tea had been placed in her lap moments before. Tea splattered everywere; on her uniform, skin, and the Persian rug that covered half of the rooms area. Mai hissed in pain, the heat from the tea burning her thighs, and travelling through her uniform to meet more skin. She didn't get a chance to apologize, because before she knew it, she was up in the air. Being carried towards a door that led to a bathroom, no dought.

"Please hold still, Miss Taniyama" Eugene said as he placed her on the sinks counter, before moving her leg until it was directed under the tap. What brisking over the stinging wounds, Mai whimpered.

"There you go" Eugene murmured lightly, rubbing his cold wet hand along Mai's legs. Mai's face turned beat red as she watched Eugene spend minutes cooling down her once burning, now slightly swollen, legs. Her hands quivered as Eugene continued mending her legs, until he had this satisfied look over his face. Showing that he was satisfied with what he had done, and this was the best that he could do.

"Uh, Mr Davis..." Mai started

"Ah, does it still hurt?" He questioned, a look of worry sprouting his face. If Mai's face could have gotten any reader, it would have. She waved her hands in front of her face "I'm fine!" She tried to grin "Arigato"

Eugene had no trouble grinning "I'm just glad your all right Miss Taniyama. How terrible it would be to have such a lovely girl injured while in our hands."

"L-Lovely?" She stuttered. Watching Eugene continue to grin.

"Why of course Miss Taniyama"

That was when silence did not exsist in Mai's vocabulary, that was when, Mr Davis, an identical replica of Eugene, entered the room. His eyes were blue as the ocean, his hair was as straight and black as Eugene's, his skin was the colour of charcoal. But other than the resemblance, Mai saw something else. She saw a cold emotion on his face, a numb like expression, and ice cold eyes that you just couldn't see into. You saw the total _opposite_ of Eugene.

"Miss Taniyama" He said. It was no question "What is it that you need? Because if this visit is to have your lustful fanticys answered, I presume a dating site would come to good use."

_W-What?! Who the hell does this guy think he is?!_ Mai growled mentally as she watched him start to walk out of the room, not even waiting for a response. Not that Mai had one. And as the seconds past, Eugene finally spoke "I'm sorry for my brothers accusations, he isn't very good with people" said as Mai hopped off the sinks counter. Brushing invisible lint off her skirt before turning to Eugene "No it's fine. I just was thinking...your so different."

Eugene smiled at this "Ah yes, that is just how he seems. But inside he's a good person"

Eugene began to walk out of the small cubical, Mai following from behind, she sat down at where she had been seated before. Facing Mr Davis.

He didn't wait for any greetings, he just got to the point. As he shuffled through his huge stack of papers, his eyes lifted to Mai

"What is it that you need Miss Taniyama?" He asked. All rudeness gone except for the numbness, and lack of emotion in his voice.

"Well" Mai arranged herself in a better position in the chair "You see, _Mr _Davis, my school is haunted."


	3. Chapter Two: The Case

Chapter Two: The Case

It was then that Mr Davis looked up at Mai, his long lashes framing over his dark and cold eyes. And that first time that he looked at her, _really _looked at her, she thought she saw some kind of flicker of emotion in his eyes. It wasn't what she had thought it was when he spoke "_Yes_, Miss Taniyama, that's why your here, isn't it?" he said in the most sarcastic way. She was surprised that he didn't even roll his eyes at her, but that would just be out of character right? "This club specialises in supernatural phenomenon. It is our duty to find, and stop, these apparitions and attacks, that is, _if _anything supernatural exists."

Most people would presume that he meant _if _anything happens at all, in the case. But from just how he had worded and said it, it sounded as though he didn't believe in anything supernatural _at all. _But why would someone even question such a thing if they had a club?

Nevertheless, cutting out of her deep thoughts she shot a glare at Mr Davis because of his act that she was the idiot, and he was the physiatrist trying to help her. She didn't want mental care, her _school_ wanted _supernatural _care. "Well, Mr Davis" she said it with the most venom that she could submerge "I believe you will find this case to your satisfactory with your lack of belief in the occult" Passing over a stuffed envelope

_I've never wanted someone to be attacked as much as this guy right now. And I've only known him for ten minutes._

"There have been plenty of witnesses and attacks on the students. And my school found it beneficial that we get help." She continued

"What sort of attacks?" Eugene cut in. Looking over his brothers shoulder, his eyes read over the pages.

"Well, there is this one staircase in my school where many have reported always feeling watched, or chased. It's as though someone is following them around until they reached the stairs, always feeling a similar chill when they are walking. And when they finally reach the staircase, they say they feel a hand crawling up their shoulder, and the last thing they feel is its vise grip, and its voice"

"What does it say?" Eugene interrupted once more

"Give me back my life"

Both Davis's looked up at once. There eyes holding the same, dare she say, peaked curiosity and wonder as she had probably held when she had first heard it. Though it would have been quite humorous if she had seen it at some other time. But she couldn't laugh now, Mr Davis would definitely say something about her lack of seriousness at this. Plus she would sound like a total psycho hearing the job well done.

"There should be some images of swelling on their shoulders, shaped like a hand."

Mr Davis flipped the page, and seemed to find what i had mentioned, Eugene had a similar expression to Mr Davis. A look of interest.

"Was there any brain trauma or swelling present before they were attacked?" Mr Davis queered

_What is he saying?! All though's students and they all have some brain swelling? And he saw the photo's right?! _Mai could already tell there was going to be no friendship in this possible case, between her and Mr Davis.

"Please Miss Taniyama, it would be nice to help you but there are certain precautions we must take. Such as what how they were feeling that day, were they sick, did they have some mental form of disability..." Eugene dragged on. Smiling lightly, as if he were trying to praise her to answer. Trying his best to explain this to her. But the thing was, she already _did_ understand. It was just how rude Mr Davis had said it.

"No" She paused "I don't think so. I think there is some information on their health in the envelope somewhere."

Mr Davis seemed to find what he was looking for. His eyes flickering over the pages, Mai found herself half entranced with the two brothers. She had never been around such good looking people. Eugene was even _nice_; though, she guessed Mr Davis hadn't been able to cut the line of non narcissistic. He was just as sure of himself as most of the good looking people were. Which was a good thing, but when it came down to it, it didn't help to have someone perfect around that was too proud to admit their mistakes. Mr Davis grimaced at the page, obviously not finding what he was half expecting, half looking, for.

"Miss Taniyama, what other things have occurred?" He questioned, his old unbreakable expression back.

Searching my head, I didn't even really need to think about it. "Well, most of the girls in our school like to cut their hair short." She paused "This is because, whenever they possibly nod of while in the school, or daydream for a possibly short amount of time. They find a piece of their hair snipped off at the ends"

Mr Davis laid unfazed, obviously already got it planned out in his head that there was some logical reason for it all. Possibly some catty girl wanting to get back at someone. But it just _wasn't _like that. It was scary. In middle school she had had long braided pigtails, until she entered high school. Then a similar occurrence happened, and she cut it shortly after. And now here she was. Short hair and all. Though, it wasn't that whatever had happened scared her enough to cut her hair or anything, she like it this way too. Less trouble in the mornings with how she was often late.

"But it wasn't just that, shortly after, in a recorded amount of eight days, something terrible happens to the students family, belongings, you name it. But it is always something that the student has said was, quote: "My most important thing in the world."

She continued "Over 75% of these singled out students are now receiving psychiatric help."

There was a long pause of silence. Long enough for Mai to get the drift that the brothers, not just Eugene, were thinking. Thinking about the possibilities of such a thing occurring in a normal high school, like my own. Girls couldn't get as bad as to kill there family, or pets, etc over some disagreement. Could they?

Mai found herself thinking about it too. She just couldn't imagine ever doing such a thing to someone, it would always haunt her. And to continue her doing's in it? Terrible.

_Ugh _a shiver trembled up her spine as she thought about it. Feeling violated in a way, feeling as though she had left the door open to her house just for a second, and someone just walked in and wouldn't leave. Just did bad and hurtful things to you.

"What gender?" Mr Davis broke through her thoughts as he peered over his desk, at Mai

"W-What?" She asked

_Was he a skirt chaser too?_

"What genders were attacked?" He repeated, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Oh" she realised what he was asking then. No worries readers! "All of them were female" she paused "Wait, no, all of them were female, except _one_."

"One?" Eugene peered

"Yes, one" Searching for his name in the back of my head, that I knew they would ask for.

"Who was he?" Eugene asked, a very solid face, much like his brothers, appeared.

"I'm sorry" she apologized "I can't remember his name" she murmured, continuing to think about it.

"Was there anything specific about him, that could possibly help us find him?" He asked

_W-Wait, does that mean they are taking the case? _Her face lit up, but trying to keep track of her thought's and find a name, find something significant, she forced it away. And then she got it.

"Well, he enrolled a month before he was attacked." Mai paused, seeing that they were listening, she continued "He was attacked soon after, about a week before he left. He was both pushed down the stairs, and his hair was snipped. And all the other attacks that had happened, happened to him. So it was no wonder to anyone why he had left."

"What was it that he lost?" Mr Davis asked.

"His whole family, to a fire."

Mai had known what it felt like, to lose something so important, so fast. Especially at such a young age, but she had made it through it all. Thanks to a very kind teacher at her old middle school. In fact, she now attended Mai's high school too.

Mr Davis cut through Mai's thoughts as he placed the folder down, his office chair turning so that he was facing the large European windows. Looking out at something that Mai couldn't see.

"We'll take the case"


	4. Chapter Three: Naru

A/N: I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I'm actually just trying to clear out bad idea's and add good idea's to what I should put into my story. Which is why the story's so boring at the moment. But I will _definitely _make it better. Right now, I'm trying to think of what new characters to bring into the story, and how to make them not ruin the brilliant characters that the author of Ghost hunt has made us. If anyone has any ideas or wants to say something about if I'm doing a terrible job (which I am pretty sure, I am) I hope you will. Because I dream of being an author one day, so I must keep your interest peaked, right?

So _please _criticize as much as you want! Cause if it's what I must go through to chase up to my dream of being a good author I will take its many challenges ^-^

Hehe, I hope you enjoy chapter 3!

Chapter Three: _Naru_

"E-Eh?" Mai stuttered, utterly perplexed

_Did he just say that he would take the case?_

"I said I would take the case." He answered, his steal cold voice holding annoyance once more

"Case...?" She said, a dazed expression coming across her face

"I said I would take the case, are you an idiot or something?" He peered, the chair turning to me, so I could see his annoying face.

_And here I thought that he was a nice person. Hah! _She said mentally in her head in annoyance

"And here I thought you were being a nice person for once" Said a voice from behind her. Making Mai turn around quickly to see a boy, about her age, looking over at Mr Davis

_Gosh! I had thought I had said it aloud _She sighed aloud. Relief flooding through her.

"I do not take it into consideration to be kind to imbeciles such as this girl" Mr Davis said, standing from his seat to walk towards a small kitchen cubical.

"What did you say?!" She hissed acidly

"I said that you were an imbecile." He repeated himself, not trying to change what he had said at all.

"_You_" Mai hissed, standing from her seat angrily (making sure not to push of the new set of tea in her lap) and storming over to him "Your such a jerk! You, You, You narcissist jerk!" She growled angrily.

She heard Eugene stifle a giggle at her comment of Mr Davis being a narcissist. But it was the truth, oh Kami-sama, it _was_ the truth!

"That's it, I don't care! School haunted or not, we don't need your help Naru!"

That seemed to hit a cord because as Naru turned to her, she saw shock. The first emotion she had ever seen on his coolly face.

"_What _did you say?"

Somehow, with an _actual _emotion evident on his face, she felt nervous "N-Naru, Naru for narcissistic"

That was when the room was surrounded with stifled snickers and giggles. From several people in the room. If she hadn't heard them, she wouldn't have known they had been there in the first place. How long _had _they been there for. Everyone laughed, that was, everyone _except _Naru.

Annoyance shrouded his face before he turned and stormed off to the room that he had come from in the first place, no doubt, his office. What kind of high school student had an office?

That was the last she saw of Naru, because as his office door slammed shut, she was already storming off to the door she had entered from. She was tired of this mistreating club. She could take care of the hauntings if she had to. And she _would. _She heard Eugene trying to stop her from leaving, but it was already to late because she had already had her back to the closed club room. Not coming back, begging for forgiveness, or for her schools help. She just left.

_**Next Day**_

It was the next day that she was called to the office. Already knowing what to expect. The enraged principle would yell at her for not receiving the help of the club. And she would have to leave the student council if anything. But she had already known what to expect when she had left the all boys school. That's why when she had returned home, not returning to school like she should have, tears burning her eyes, she got mad at the only thing that she could get mad at. Her stuffed animals, her door, her wall, her ceiling, etc, etc.

It wasn't as though she had anything else to do, above all else, she was mad at _herself._ What happened to the willpower of Mai Taniyama? Why couldn't she have come up with some snappy comeback like she always had? Was it because she had come up with her match. Had the clubs leader beaten her?

_No! _Mai disagreed mentally at the time _It was because he walked away, what was I supposed to do? Follow him around, I'm not some kind of puppy, or anything like that...right?_

She knew she was wrong. That was exactly what she was supposed to do. With her being a part of the student council, it was her _duty _to help the very school that had always been so kind to her. But she hadn't. It was all her fault.

So when she stepped into the principal's office, it wasn't what she had been expecting the visit to be like, with her coming face to face with the same twin brothers, so similar, yet so different; that she had met for the first time just a day before.

"Ah, Miss Taniyama. Thank you for your help yesterday. It seems as though our troubles will be solved now." The principal said happily, already pleased with the group just _being _there.

Before she could speak, Naru was already doing so. "Mr Satou, our being here may not be affective. But we will take time in trying to solve this case."

"Ah, yes of course Mr Davis" the principal smiled.

And without warning, Mai's legs buckled under her, slowly slopping to the floor as a sigh was released from her parted lips.

_Seriously...How am I going to make it with these two around _She sighed aloud

"M-Miss Taniyama! Are you okay?" The principal said, already by Mai's side

"Ah, yes" Mai gave off a weak laugh "I'm fine. Just a little tired" _Of that guy_

The principal seemed relieved "Well how about going to the nurses office? Can you stand?"

"N-No, I'm fine, don't worry" She smiled weakly, already starting to get up. That was, until she was lifted from the ground.

"H-Hey!" Mai gasped out weakly, looking up at the strangers face "Put me down! I'm fine!" She tried to tell the person holding her, but he seemed to ignore her, already beginning to leave the room

"We'll take her to the nurses office Mr Satou" Eugene was saying as he followed the man holding her to the door "We will need to have a prepared area, or office of sorts for a base for our team"

"A-Ah, yes, of course" Mr Satou said in a breathless manner. That was the last she heard because the door was already shut, and she was already being carried down the hall.

"H-Hey! I'm fine, really! Please put me down"

_Who the hell is this guy? _She peered up at the strangers face, unsure of what to say.

"Where is the nurses office" The stranger asked

"P-Put me down, and I'll show you"

He released a loud chuckle "Your quite a funny young lady aren't you?" he grinned down at her

"He said that the nurses office is down this hall, room 114"

_Eugene! _Mai thought in exasperation _Finally someone I actually know_

"E-Eugene, make him put me down! I really am fine" Mai begged him. But Eugene only gave her a light, playful smile

"We already know that, this is just an excuse for _Naru_ to speak to you"

_W-What _She didn't struggle anymore, unsure of what to say

"Speaking of which, where is Naru-chan?" The strange man holding her, asked.

_Was it really that popular of a nickname? Or are they just trying to bother me about my choice in nicknames?_

"He's finding the room number for the base, and any extra information on the case. He said that he would be back in a few minutes." Said another unknown voice from behind her. It was a very quiet, and gentle voice.

Finally finding the nurses office, the person carrying her released her from the hold that he had her in, in his arms, and placed her on a nearby cott. The nurse was nowhere to be found, perfect for whatever they were planning. Whatever Naru wanted to say to her, it definitely wasn't any good.

But as the minutes ticked by, she took a look around the room and found five unknown faces. One of them was the man that had been carrying her. Looking as though he was in his late twenty's. He had shoulder length brown hair, pulled into a small ponytail, his eyes a deep chocolate brown. The boy standing beside him had blond hair, that looked more English than Japanese. His eyes the colour of the sky, a light blue.

And then there were two other boys, one with a very cheerful, yet oblivious look on his face. A look that kind of made him seem as though he could never be depressed over anything. Hard to believe with Naru, and the scary guy from before, being around all the time. His hair the colour of blood, and a matching set of red eyes.

And then there was the second boy, a boy with black hair, much like Eugene and Naru's, and violet coloured eyes. His expression as numb and cold as Naru's. As though he had seen all the terrible things in the world. And with the look in his eyes, I believed him. I believed he had seen many terrible things. Thing's that i couldn't imagine, hearing, seeing, or _doing_. And that's when I noticed Naru had stepped into the room. The scary guy entering from behind shortly after.

And almost moments after entering, Naru sat down in a spinning office chair, much like the one his office, and said "You better be grateful."

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A/N: Well, there`s chapter three, with me blabbing throughout the pages I hope you stay interested. In the next chapter there is going to be introductions to both the character`s we know and love, and from our new entries, that will hopefully heat up the romance between oh I don`t know, whoever you`d like Mai to have some moments with. That is, if you want something to happen between her and somebody else, but if you're happy with Naru and possibly Eugene, sure

So I hope you enjoy, cause the next chapters are going to be the introductions between the team, and then it's all business :P

Oh, and here`s a picture of the two new characters. Well, at least what I am basing there looks on.

Cheerful boy (1)

.

Dark, kinda quiet, boy (2)

.com/user_images/C/CR/CRA/crazyrTHANu882/1177548144_


	5. Chapter Four: The Team

A/N:Thank you so much for your excellent reviews and comments on my story. I was almost brought to tears, I mean, I never thought there would be any asking for updates in them, but every comment said the same line that I've only dreamed of "Please update soon". Yes, I know, what kind of life am I living, eh? A pretty good one thanks to you great fella's lol. So, as I promised, and hope you enjoy, chapter four...

Chapter Four: The Team

"What did you say?" Mai asked, suddenly breathless

"Must I repeat myself? I said you'd better be grateful." His usual ignorant voice coming out the same as always.

Mai's body retracted on its own. Already standing up on her once buckled, now shaking, legs. Her whole body was shaking, but not with gratefulness, much like Naru wanted, but with anger.

Anger at how he couldn't just be kind and say it was nothing. Just help her to be a kind, kindred soul. Like Eugene, or someone else, might.

"I didn't ask for your help you jerk!" Mai growled, walking towards, and up to Naru, now "You came on your own. Don't expect me to say thank you, or be grateful like you said. Because I'm not." She paused, anger seething into her words "I don't need you"

The room was silent, so silent, that you could hear Mai's huffed breath's. And with this silence, she took in to account to continue, because he was listening "I won't apologize either, because I shouldn't have to. I came on my accord once, on this school's account, not my own. Yet you treated me like crap!" Tears now stung her eyes, tears of anger and resentment. She knew she should stop, that she had said enough, and that something, just something, in Naru had brought him here. Possibly kindness, but just how he had said it. His one sentence, made her want to scream, and pull her hair out.

She felt like a child, but it annoyed her even more that he could take such an affect on her, with just one narcissist line, she had lost control.

It was Eugene that stopped her from saying anymore "Taniyama-san, if I may say, I think you've said enough"

And he was right, she had passed the line of frustrated to rude. Naru had come there to help _her_. She had never pleaded with him, yet he came. That narcisstic side was just a part of, from what she had seen in a day, his character. His nickname said it all.

"Your right..." Mai sighed "I'm sorry Naru-" she heard the door slam. Her ears ringing at the sight, she saw what had made the sudden slam. Naru had.

_Naru has left the building... _She sighed

The room was silent once more, much like it was often when Mai was in the room. Moments passed, and she heard one of the team members, the one that had picked her up, shuffling from foot to foot.

_Awkwardness 1, Taniyama 0_

"I'm sorry" She finally said, not to anyone in particular, probably to herself more than anything. But instead of the glares, or storming out teammates, much like Naru. She felt a brush against her head. Looking up, she saw the stranger that had been carrying her before patting her head.

_E-Eh?_

"Ahhh, so you're a good child after all." He said, continuing his ministrations in a more fatherly way, than a perverted. A way that made her feel a little warm inside.

"T-Takiwaga-san" The blonde boy said in an out of breath manner. "What`re you doing?"

The red haired boy with the once dazed expression looked more angry than happy "Eh, what are you doing to my cute Mai-chan?!`` he growled

Still shocked with the fact that there was a man patting her head, and another already calling her by her name as though they`d known each other for a long time; she didn`t say anything

``Takiwaga-san, Brown-san, Watanabe-san. Please calm down`` Eugene finally interrupted, possibly taking Mai`s in-shock expression as a time to butt in ``Taniyama-san is...-``

``What`s going on?!`` Mai blurted out suddenly. Unsure of how to take on the fact that so many boys were surrounding her, and talking about this that she couldn`t understand.

Suddenly a new voice walked into the room ``What`s going on` is that you are to be my assistant until this case is to be solved.``

``E-Eh?`` Mai`s eyes found the taker of the voice. Naru stood by the door, his scary bodyguard/assistant was standing behind him. Both there presence eerily unnoticeable.

``You heard me`` He walked towards Eugene, passing a briefcase that he was holding to Eugene. Looking up at his brother, he said ``Gene, introduce her to the team, I`m going to start setting up in the base.`` and turned his back to his brother. Stopping mid way out of the door, he turned around and looked at the man that had been patting her head ``Takiwaga-san, it would be much appreciated if you were to come back to the base and tend to your services afterwards`` coolly he left. The man that was apparently called ``Takiwaga-san`` released a sigh.

``Oi, Oi. He says it as though I don`t ever return...``

``But you don`t. We`ve all seen you flirting with though's high school freshman Takiwaga-kun.`` The boy with the red hair said, teasing him about his possible male fantasies.

``Oi! They`re asking me for an autograph from my band, I`m not flirting.`` Takiwaga grumbled. Annoyed by the accusations the boy was making.

``Taniyama-san`` Eugene interrupted Mai`s thoughts ``Shall I introduce the team to you?`` He asked, smiling at her with a gentle expression

``Demo... I don`t understand what`s even going on.`` she mumbled. She knew what Naru had said, but what did her having to be an assistant have to do with any of this? Was it his form of making her be grateful?

``My brother has already planned to make you his assistant. Because you will help him locate places in the school, and possibly keep our existence here sheltered.``

She ignored the fact that he had already _planned _for her to be his assistant and asked "What do you mean shelter?"

Eugene continued to smile lightly at her "From the girls, Taniyama-san. Many girls have come to our club only to make up a story and have us investigate it. Apparently, our group has been nicknamed the 'Harem group'. Much to my brothers distaste." The group around Mai remained silent "But you Taniyama-san, you came to our group for real help. One of our first female clients to do so. And with that, Naru was driven to help you."

Mai only felt more self resentment to herself. What had she been thinking when she had been so rude to someone who was obviously trying to help in there own way? That was when she realised something, she wanted to know more about Naru. She wanted to understand what he was thinking when he says cold things. She wanted to repay him.

"I'll do it" She said finally, relief automatically setting on the faces of the men surrounding her.

Eugene just continued to smile at her, until Takiwaga-san finally broke the silence. Pulling Mai into a bear hug from behind. "EHH, such an adorable child is going to be on our team now?" He grinned, pulling out of the hug to grin down at her "Then we oughta give an introduction, eh?"

Takiwaga brushed some of his brown bangs out of his face, his brown eyes glowing with adult humour "I'm sure you've heard, my names Takiwaga Houshou. I studied as a monk in the mountains as a kid, but now I work part time for Naru-chan to set up his equipment, and such."

The boy with blond hair, and gleaming blue eyes sat up from his seat in the corner, walking towards Mai to give a shy smile "I be John Brown. I hailed from Australia until two years ago. I studied as a priest young. And from here you may say I be what you call an exorcist." Mai couldn't help snort, tears rising in her eyes, her stomach began to hurt at the smuggled snorts that arouse from her.

_I know I shouldn't be laughing when its a serious matter, and that he's a priest, but what kind of Japanese is that?_

"Ahh, right, Mai-chan hasn't heard Brown-san speak. He learned in the Kansai region so..." Takiwaga-san explained, seemingly having a difficult time not laughing as much as her.

"And I, my beautiful Mai-chan, am blessed to be in the presence of such an amazing girl." The red haired boy with a maching set of eyes said as he took Mai's hand into his own, grasping it lightly "They call me Saito Watanabe" that was when he lowered his head, and pecked Mai's hand.

Mai's face arouse in many colours, her mind swimming with different, unsure thought's. All leading to the same fact at hand, _he had kissed her hand_.

It was also then that as moments passed Eugene pulled Mai away from Saito "Watanabe-san" he only said, nothing more, just his name. And as they stared at each other, something being communicated through it all. It was Takiwaga-san to break it "What the hell did you just do to Mai, Watanabe?!" He growled. John's face was the same colour as Mai's, clearly nothing physical ever came in his reach such as what he had just witnessed, and Eugene's very similar to what Naru's usually masked, an emotionless glow.

Saito sighed, a long, deeply breathed, sigh that followed by him beginning to walk to the door. Leaving the room with a "See you soon Mai-chan" followed by a wink.

That certainly hadn't been suspected...

"Taniyama-san, are you okay?" Eugene peered at her, worry obviously inflicted in his aquatic eyes.

"Yeah, it was only a peck right?" She smiled, her face still red "I'm sure that's like hello to Saito-kun, right?"

There wasn't an answer, only Takiwaga-sans distant cussing, and the stomping of his feet around the room.

The door was heard closing, admisst to Takiwaga's stomps.

"Did someone just leave?" Mai peered at the door

"Ah, that would probably be Ryuu-san, Mai-san." John said

"Ryuu?"

"Yes" Eugene finally said, it being the first time he had spoken in minutes "Ryuu Yamada. He is our phycic in the team"

"Phycic?" Mai peered, still staring at the door.

"Yes, he has the ability of both sight, and hearing." Eugene explained

"Sight, and hearing. But don't all phycics have that?" She questioned, looking up at Eugene now, to meet his eyes.

"Yes, but not the way Yamada-san has it. Though many can see and hear spirits, Yamada-san has it to the extent to were it is everyday life to see a spirit the way we see another soul on the street. He is so capable of this that he now has the ability to look into someone's very heart and soul with one touch."

"Eh..." she didn't know what to say. Was it a gift, or a curse? At the time, she wished she had a special gift or something, to be special in some way from everyone else. But could she really hold such a burden.

"It has come down to such a troublesome thing in his eyes, that he has sheltered himself away from everyone around him."

Just hearing such a thing made her depressed. What kind of life did he live? Every day, being surrounded by death, and _knowing _it, unlike everyone else.

Mai frowned at the ground. Her eyes burning slightly as she thought of it all.

"Taniyama-san" Eugene's worried voice entered her ears, "are you okay?"

"Une" She nodded, rubbing away the tears that began to build up. Looking up at Eugene, she said the words that she had said once before, and repeated them.

"I'll do it, I'll be an assistant"


	6. Case One: Part 1, Dream

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this guys, and sorry for not posting in an amount of time, I hope you'll still read, lol. Well, here's chapter 5!!

Chapter Five: Case One- Strategy In The Schoolyards

Part One- Dreams, Elopments, and all the Good Stuff

**March**

_**Day One**_

It had been a day since Naru had decided that Mai was going to join their team as an assistant, as some sort of 'paying him back'. A day since a strange guy named Saito Watanabe had got a little to intimate and pecked her hand. A day since a strange tall monk had started feverishly patting her head. A day since she had laughed at a priests form of speech till tears came to her eyes. A day since she had realised how difficult it could be to have a gift of sight, or hearing, or fill the blank. And finally, a day since Eugene, Naru's opposite, gave her another one of his bright smiles.

And when Mai walked into the base of the mystery club, _early, _that was what she had intended on seeing again. Eugene's pretty smile.

"Good morning Taniyama-san" John said as he walked into the club, meeting her halfway at the door where she stared across the room at Naru who was talking to Eugene about the case "Taniyama-san?" he peered at her.

"Ah" she broke out of her trance "Brown-san, Ohio" she smiled at him awkwardly noticing that he had followed her glance to Eugene and Naru.

"N-Neh Brown-san" he looked up at her then

"Hai?"

"What's that scary guy's name, the one that always follows Naru around?" she asked as she pointed towards him as he filed some papers.

"Ah, you mean Lin-san?" he asked. Unsure of what she was asking

"Is that his name?" she peered

John nodded, smiling shyly at her "Yes, he's Davis-san's assistant. He lives with Oliver-san and Eugene-san"

_Then why does he need me here?! _Mai's thoughts hissed

"Neh, Taniyama-san" John interrupted Mai's anger "I-Is it okay if I call I call you Mai?"

"Eh?" Mai stared at him. _Aww, he's so innocent _"Sure Brown-san. And is it okay if I call you John?" she asked, smiling at the blush that stained his cheeks.

"S-Sure Mai-chan" John smiled.

Not soon after this, a yell (more like an order) was heard across the room "Mai! Tea."

"What?" Mai removed her eyes from John and met Naru's icy eyes as he repeated himself

"_Tea,_ Mai. Or is that too difficult" He said sarcastically "It is in the top left corner of the cupboard"

_Why that egotistical narcissistic jerk!_

Following his order unwillingly, Mai walked towards a small kitchen that had been provided in the base. Hearing Naru talking about the case to Eugene and John as more of the members started to arrive.

"Takiwaga-san, you'll be in charge of the second floor classrooms that are listed on this list" She heard Eugene say as he passed a small pad of paper to Takiwaga-san.

"243, 246, 249..." Takiwaga-san read aloud "Neh Naru-chan, aren't these just going up by three?"

"You're getting sharper each day. Neh, Bou-chan?" Saito said playfully. Takiwaga-san growled in response to Saito's accusation.

"It seems that the rooms that there have been particular sighting's, are going up in an odd arrangement. Lin is looking up more information on it, and school injuries that may be related to the case." Said Naru.

"But at the moment we are unsure if there is anything particularly in this school." Eugene continued on for his brother.

"I sensed something." A low voice said. It was a dead short of hushed voice. A voice that may have had less emotion then Naru's. A voice that belonged to Ryuu Yamada. "When we entered the school, a feeling of hostility and aggression came up. Though, I couldn't be sure if it was from the living students of the school." He continued.

It was strange for Mai to hear him speak, since she expected it to take longer than a day to hear it. But then again, he was the phycic in the team, he had to say what he felt.

"Isn't it strange for such a large population of the living to only reflect aggression, and be hostile?" John cut in

"Did you feel anything else?" Eugene peered

Ryuu gave a light sigh "I was too busy with the backlash of emotions hitting me, seconds after I detected it."

"Nevertheless, be careful, and pay attention. We still don't know what's going on, or _if _there is anything, in this school." Naru said

Soon there was only Naru, Eugene, and Lin-san. Silence fell into the air as Mai found herself sitting with the most awkward group of people in Japan. Setting her mind on finding the tea box, and getting Naru's tea before he got even more agitated with the lack of herbs in the air.

"Mai" The voice that she knew was going to come soon, came

"Naru~" Mai copied

"Is it so difficult to locate a box, or is it that your brain cannot comprehend the word _Richtungen"_

Mai gave him a weird look, not understanding what the heck he just said, but knowing he was going to tell her sarcastically anyway.

"Kann Sie nicht verstehen die Wortrichtung?" He said even more prudently, knowing that he was just being a smartass, she stayed quiet "I said, _Can you not understand the word __**direction**__?" _From the way he looked at her, he had obviously not seen the glint in her brown eyes telling him to shut up "It's German."

Mai growled inwardly. _Smartass_

"Noll, enough." Eugene said as he walked towards Mai and pointed out were the tea had been the whole time. Naru turned his back to Mai as he shuffled through some more folders. Sadly, the tea was exactly where Naru had said it would be, in his smartass, un-understandable, way.

"Thanks Gene" Mai smiled, quickly realising she had slipped up "Ah, Sorry!" Mai gasped out "I heard Naru say it, and..."

Eugene shushed her, bringing the tips of his fingers to Mai's lips, he said "Don't worry yourself, _Mai-chan_" He smiled his light smile

For minutes they stood there, Mai not knowing what to say, and definitely not knowing what Gene was thinking. And definitely not the fact that an audience watched from across the room. No longer focused on the tea that he had ordered fifteen minutes ago.

"Um..." Mai lowered her eyes, stepping away from Eugene to look back down at the boiling water. "D-Do you want some tea?" Mai peered at Eugene.

"Gene" Naru's voice interrupted Eugene's answer "We need to begin questioning the students" Naru said, shuffling some files as he walked towards the door, and opened it. And within seconds, Mai's view of the school hallway had vanished with a long line of female students already waiting by the door.

Mai wasn't sure if it was a phycic investigation, or a manga. But to all the girls that waited, how could the team be sure if it wasn't just some excuse to meet the rest of the team?

Had this been what Eugene had meant when he said that they needed protection? How far could it get?

* * *

It was quiet, really quiet. Darkness had swallowed Mai, and the only thing she could see amidst it all was the small orbs of light that hung over the blackness. Mai searched through her thought's, trying to think back to how she had gotten here her eyes searched the utter blackness. Her mind drawing back to the same thing. Naru. Naru, and Eugene had left to go follow the diagrams to some of the rooms that the few helpful girls had told them. Lin and soon left with them, showing the briefest amount of emotion that she had ever seen on the man's face. And as amazing as it was, it hadn't been resentment, rather, she couldn't really describe what his face showed. That was the last she had remembered because she had never seen something so amazing (as bland as her life may sound) before. And then, there was darkness, just like the area she stood in.

Lines began to draw up around her, lines as bright as the orbs themselves. They began to connect, till finally her schools diagram was shown. The lines outlining the schools every detail, from wall to wall. Until she saw it, saw a girl. Laughing.

A maniac's laugh that made Mai shudder as it continued on, and on, and on. Finally the girls laugh stopped, her face not shown in the sketch that the lights had given Mai, but instead, briefly united together onto the girls neck to create a necklace. A heart shaped pendant that scrawled out the initials C.F. She finally spoke in a loud, shrewd tone.

"You think that I'd go out with _you_." She said

More lines sketched until more girls appeared around the original figure, "What is this? Charity work?"

"Neh, I think he's crying" no sympathy was heard in her tone

"No way" Another said mockingly

The original sketch snickered "Who cares? He's never going to be decent enough to be around me"

The sketches then walked away, at least, that's what Mai thought as they faded away. All the lights forming together to create one last form. A boy, from what Mai could see, sat crumpled to the ground. His crumpled body shaking as the girls laughter faded with their forms.

"You'll regret this!"

* * *

"Regret what Mai-chan?" A voice asked. Mimicking the boys words.

Mai's brown eyes flew open, coming face to face with Saito's pure red eyes "S-Saito?" Mai flew back in the office chair that she had been sitting in. Her head banging against the bases window. Winking in pain as she watched Saito rush off somewhere to get ice, she found Ryuu. Their eyes meeting for a flicker of a second, Mai saw something in with black orbs. Something similar to fear.

When Saito returned, Ryuu turned away, breaking the only contact that connected them in some way. He quickly began to walk towards the door that he had entered from and retreated. Mai was brought back to Saito when a cool cloth was brought to the back of her head.

Mai winked in pain as she took the cloth from Saito's hand, and began to add her own pressure to it. The coolness stung, but gave release to the swelling that had already began on Mai's head.

"Thanks Saito" Mai said with a sigh of relief

"Aww" Saito released "Mai-chan's so kawaii!" He said cheerfully.

"Hehe" Mai said forcefully. Her thoughts still drawing back to the strange dream she had had.

"Demo Mai-chan. Naru-bou's not going to be happy that you fell asleep on the first day" Saito went on

_Crap, that's right, he saw me sleeping_

"N-Neh, Saito-kun. Would it be okay if we kept that little bit of information away from Naru?" She stuttered. She could only imagine what Naru would say.

"Why of course Mai-chan" Saito said "As long as you tell me what lovely dream you had" Saito grinned

"_Lovely_?" Mai said sarcastically "You mean _weird_..." She corrected him

"Weird?" Bou-san repeated as he entered the room, looking over at Mai and Saito "What's weird?" Bou-san peered

"W-Well..." Mai started pausing as John entered the room; Eugene, Naru, and Lin-san following in pursuit.

"Mai-chan had a dream" Saito grinned "It was passionately played, about us eloping into the depts of France"

"O-Oh my" John said, his face painted pink

"We traveled by sea, passion escaping just from our movements as we tried to escape Bou-san, Mai-chan's evil fiancé, who tried to stop our elopement."

"M-Mai-chan..." John said breathlessly, looking even more flustered "I never knew-"

"Knew what?!" Mai growled, even more flustered than John now "He's lying!"

"All I heard was _weird_" Bou-san cut in "So I must agree with Mai, a very strange dream indeed."

Saito paused to pout.

"Dream?" Naru's voice cut through the conversation

"N-Naru, It's not what you think! I didn't-"

"I believe it is what I think _Mai"_

"Eh? You called me by my name?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"N-No. Not really..." Mai said quietly

"With you dreaming Mai, I do believe you must have been asleep. Since it is impossible to dream while awake"

"F-Fine! I was asleep! So what?!" Mai admitted. Already tired of him belittling her limited knowledge on dreams, and being awake.

It was then that Naru shot Mai a glare, a glare that a boss would give a co-worker that had said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Though, was it that big of a deal for her to have been asleep for a tiny moment?

...Apparently it was.

"So what was it about?" Bou-san peered at Mai.

"Definitely not what Saito said" was Mai's answer. "But it was weird, _really _weird" Mai started. She told the team about the strange orbs of light in the vast darkness, and of the girls that made fun of the boy that lay crumpled to the ground. And finally, what he had said.

"'You'll regret this'...?" Gene repeated to himself. Naru and his eyes reflecting the same look of thought. The team was silent, all of them thinking about the strange dream.

"I'm sure it's nothing" Mai said, grinning uneasily at the group "I mean, it's a dream right?"

"I agree" Mai heard from beside her, Saito stood beside her "I mean, Mai-chan's no phycic, so how can we trust her dream as a lead or anything?" He continued on.

Unease overwhelmed Mai. Wasn't it weird? For him to agree with her like that, like she wasn't anyone with something special. Some gift.

_Could he be jealous? _Mai wondered _Yesterday I never had a chance to here what his gift in the team was. Could he be normal like me?_

Shaking off the feeling of unease Mai returned to her senses just in time to here another voice ask "How many?"

"Eh? How many what?" Mai peered over at the voice, who turned out to be Ryuu, returning from wherever he'd come from.

"Girls" He asked in his monotone voice

"Uh, four I think" She answered

"Lin!" Naru yelled across the room to were Lin sat by his computer, already typing in what he knew Naru was going to ask

"Four..." Bou-san repeated gastly

"Four deaths" Lin said after moments passed

"Death's?!" Mai gasped out

"Hai, Taniyama-san" Lin said "Kino Hisako, Fuschida Chikako, Modegi Kinu, and Saeki Ko"

"Is there any way to relate them to this case?" Naru questioned.

"Hai. It seems that they all died around the same time that the problems began"

"How is it that they died?" John asked. Looking slightly pained at the thought of death.

"It seems that they turned on each other." Lin answered

"Turned on each other?" Mai questioned aloud.

"It seems that there was a game of sorts being played between the girls. That ended with them each dieing in mysterious accidents that the police couldn't convict anyone for"

"So no one got in trouble?" Gene peered

"There was talk that the game had led the girls to do it, but there was no evidence, since the remaining two girls wouldn't admit to it."

"So what happened?" Bou-san asked

"When there was one girl left, she mysteriously died herself."

Mai caught something in the corner of her eye on Lin's computer screen. Rushing forward, she saw Lin flinch away from her, but didn't question it. Because there, on the computer screen, lied the girl that had been in her dream, laughing manically. She looked normal on the screen, normal enough to make Mai take a double look, but it was obvious to Mai that it was her. Because there, on the crook of her neck, was the necklace that the lights had made.

"That's her" Mai said in agast, shocked at this very discovery that she had dreamed of a once living (now dead) soul "This is the girl from my dream" Mai said

"That is Fuschida Chikako" Lin said

"Are you sure Mai-chan?" Gene asked, now by her side

"Yeah, I'm sure. Because she has the same necklace and initials that were in my dream" She paused "C.F..." Mai murmured

"Looks as though this is going to be more than we bargained for" Bou-san muttered.

* * *

A/N: Yes, yes, I know! Terrible author! I do concur :P but I tried my best so I hope you enjoyed at least a little. I know that I did, writing it at least :D

I hope you won't give up on me yet and continue to read this offly written chapter/story. I tried my best to get all the charecters involved, but if there's anything more that I should do/add, let me know please  
And more than anything, please, please, PLEASE review!! Give me the worst and the best details. And if you have any questions, please ask  
Have a lovely day lol ^-^


	7. Case One:Part 2, Warning

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and comments!!! And if any of you have any questions about what the heck I'm writing about, say the word! Thank you! And please enjoy!!

Case 1: Strategies in the Schoolyard

Part 2, Direct Line of Attack

**Day 2**

"Mai" a voice said from Mai's side. Though, it was almost impossible to hear through her ears. All she could hear was the sigh that escaped her lips, the thrumming of her flaring ears, and the sight of the blue, blue sky that lied outside her period 4 classroom window.

"Mai!" The another, more mature, voice yelled, bringing Mai from her trance that revolved around the case, and the facts that they had just learned during the course of the lunch break.

"Huh?" Mai let out, as her eyes traced around the classroom noticing that everyone was staring at her. Some not hiding the fact that they were snickering. And then, her eyes laid onto the girl in front of her, the one that had called to her. Hara Masako. Mai's best friend since middle school who had always had the figure of a doll, with her short, jet black hair, and gleaming blue eyes; it was no wonder that she was quite popular.

"'Huh?'" The voice copied "This class isn't for daydreaming Taniyama-san. It's for learning" the voice continued. Looking up, Mai saw that the voice belonged to Mai's homeroom teacher, Matsuzaki Ayako, who, despite her petite figure, had a fiery attitude, much like the colour of her hair. Which was probably what had led her to get furious at Mai on more than one occasion. Though, it was the same for Masako, who often bullied Mai, but they both teased each other equally, but it was thanks to Masako-chan that she had made it through her parents deaths. But it was the same with Matsuzaki sensei. At first, Mai was nervous of her, but it had always been her brown eyes that had always showed Mai her true caring soul. And with the fact that whenever she looked into them, she didn't see pity, like what alot of the others gave her, but compassion. That's what made Mai trust her sensei, enough to live with her, and be taken care of by her when her parents had died.

Matsuzaki sensei was the one that had tookin Mai in when she had lost everything. And even followed her to her own high school to take care of her. Though, that's not what she had said it was because.

"W-Well-" Mai scratched behind her head awkwardly

"Right the answer to question 2, a) ii" She yelled out, obviously not pleased with Mai's lack of attention

"Mou..." Mai grumbled as she began to walk towards the board.

"Really, Mai-chan. To not pay attention in Matsuzaki sensei's class..." Masako grumbled as she walked with Mai to her next class "You really are a baka"

"Geh!" Mai stuck her toung out at Masako "I'm an idiot, that's right! That's how I got suckered into all of this trouble" Mai sighed.

Masako sighed with her "Mai, you're the only person I know that could make a bad thing out of working together with good looking guys"

"Ehh. Are you jealous then?" Mai teased

Masako blushed "Of course not!"

Finally reaching the classroom, Mai began to move forward to go to her own class, only to be stopped by Masako's shy mutter before she left

"I guess you being different is what makes you special"

Mai stared at the back of Masako's retreating figure with her heart feeling a little bit warmer _Masako-chan's so kawaii _she smiled to herself. Only to be cut off her thought's once more by Matsuzaki sensei's yell as she walked towards Mai.

"Are you okay?" She questioned, peering at Mai's once dazed eyes, as she placed a cool hand to her forehead

"Eh?" Mai questioned cluelessly

"Mou" Matsuzaki pouted "I was worried that you were sick or something when you had that dazed expression throughout class"

"Oh! I'm fine Ayako" Mai smiled, saying her friends name casually

Ayako sighed "You don't seem to have a fever..." she murmured to herself "But if you feel a fever coming on, say the word." Ayako continued.

"Thanks Ayako" she grinned.

**Lunch**

"These are pretty gruesome deaths..." Bou-san said as Mai handed him a cup of tea. Tea that she had made, and found quite easily; and dare she say it, she was _proud _of that cup of tea. Not that anyone noticed because of the case.

"What do you mean?" Mai questioned, as she gave John some tea. And got started on Gene and Naru's.

"Their all quite tragic" John entered

Bou-san nodded as he handed her photo's of the girls. Pointing at one in particular with brown braided pigtail hair, and hazel eyes. "Modegi Kinu died from cutting herself. Apparently, she was mysteriously cut herself, and bled to death before receiving medical attention."

"It seems strange for someone to cut so deeply into their skin by accident. And not jerk away from the object as soon as it came into contact with her skin." Gene murmured

"That's what I thought" Bou-san muttered "All of their deaths seem pretty fishy." He said to himself.

Mai had now gotten down to Naru's desk and was handing him his tea. Not receiving a please or thank you, she decided to glare at him, since there wasn't much she could think of to say to the jerk. Though he seemed too engrossed in what he was thinking about involving the case, to notice.

Bou-san pointed at another one of the photo's that Mai had now placed on the coffee table in front of them. The girl had deep black short hair, with emerald eyes. "Saeki Ko died from suicide. Apparently she hung herself in room 246. Which was her homeroom"

"The room that was on the list of sightings" John said quietly

"But..." Bou-san started

"But?" Mai peered, now having moved to sit beside Gene

"There was no swelling to where the rope should have choked her."

"So...?" Mai probed

"There is often swelling were the rope had choked the person." Naru said, this being the first thing he had said from the time she had entered the room, other than ordering her for 3 cups of tea, this being his third "Saeki Ko did not have that because she hadn't committed suicide."

"Eh, look at Naru-bou. This is the first time he's ever spoken openly!" Saito said in a cheerful, and childish voice.

"That is only because Mai lacks the sensibility to understand the most basic instability of things."

Mai's fist rose, as her body shacked angrily "Yeah, your right. Because I'm an idiot because I'm an assistant and you're the boss"

"I'm glad you took the chance to realise this, Mai" he said nonchalantly.

Apparently reverse physiology hadn't won in this case. Though, whoever did win when it came to Naru?

"Kino Hisako" Bou-san continued, ruffling the edge of the picture with his foot, which showed a girl with long olive coloured hair, and blazing brown eyes. "She died from drowning to death in the school pool. She was the second last alive in the game"

"So Kino Hisako-san, and Fuschida Chikako-san were the only left in the game" John murmured to himself.

The room lay silent, everyone's tea was now surved, and took to deep thinking about the girls. Mai understood what was going on well enough to not ask any questions, but there was still one thing that she didn't understand.

"What was the game for?" Mai questioned aloud, having no idea what girls would kill their own friends over. Mai had never _ever _thought of something like that.

"What?" Naru and Gene questioned aloud, taking a step towards her, Gene grabbed her by the shoulders gentally "What did you say Mai-chan?" Gene asked again.

"Well I was thinking..." Mai started "What was the game about. And what did you get if you-"

"-Won the game" Gene finished for her.

"Yeah" Mai nodded

"Lin!" Naru yelled towards the back room "Find cases related to this around the area"

"What?!" Mai yelled out "What do you mean 'more'?!"

They ignored her "Takiwaga-san, Brown-san; go find students that may have known Chikako-san and the others" Gene ordered

They nodded "Roger" was Bou-san's last words as him and John bolted from the room.

"Ryuu" Gene started "Go and look around the area's that the spirits were last alive" he continued.

Ryuu gave a silent nod as he started off, only to stop when Mai yelled out to him "Wait!" quickly running to his side, she said "I'm coming with you"

Ryuu grunted in response, so Mai wasn't sure if it was a yes or a no. But she already had it planned out that she would follow so it didn't matter. But as he started to leave the room, it was then that Masako burst through the base doors.

"Mai!" she yelled, already grabbing at Mai's uniform "Your in charge of student councle clean up today, remember?" she peered.

"Ah!" Mai ran a hand through her brown locks. "I forgot. But Masako-chan, I have to-" looking around, she noticed that Ryuu had disappeared. Leaving without a word, he had left Mai to Masako. It might have been a good thing, possibly comical, that he was so shy (possibly terrified) of her. But he didn't have to go and leave her there!

"No excuse" Masako grumbled as she began to pull Mai towards the entrance, her small structure holding more strength than you'd think.

"B-But Masako-chan~!" Mai whined, reluctantly following since no one seemed to take her disappearance as much of a deal.

_This is what you get Naru_ Mai grumbled mentally _There will be no tea now because of your lack of service to your beautiful assistant._

Finally the door to the base was shut, and Mai left Naru with no tea service, and little information on her whereabouts.

* * *

It had tookin longer than expected for Mai to clean the rooms she had been assigned to, mostly because no one had bothered to show up, and Masako had wandered off somewhere when Mai wasn't looking and escaped. And with the classroom being empty, and so quiet, it was really no wonder on why she couldn't seem to stay conciouse.

And as the minutes passed, and lunch break started to come to a close, Mai found herself in one of the classroom desks. Her head already against the cool wood desk, and her eyes starting to shut.

* * *

"No!" the girl screamed, her voice ecoeing the bathroom stalls. It was withered and frail, a voice of pure horror. And from what Mai could see and hear, horror that had lasted for a long time before she had entered. Entered where...exactly ,though?

The screams continued, the similar lines from Mai's previous dream, drawing out the image of the girl that was screaming; with more detail than before. Now, the lights scrawled together to draw out a girl. A girl that Mai already knew just from appearance, with her long brown braided pigtails, Mai could tell automatically it was her. Modegi Kinu.

But what was it, this dream? Hadn't Modegi-san died from cutting _herself_. What did this seen mean?

The lights gathered together some more, and two girls held her wrists. Saeki Ko, and Kino Hisako!

They held her down with enough force to bruse Kinu-san's wrists, enough for Kinu-san to be unable to escape. Kinu screamed bloody murder, but no one came, and when the third person that stood above, gagged her with a cloth, Kinu-san had no chance of survival.

Kinu-san whimpered as the girls held her down, the lights slithering down Kinu-san's cheeks as a result of tears.

Mai released a smothered groan, already knowing what was going to come as tears rippled down her cheeks. They were her friends weren't they? How could they do this?!

Mai watched before her very eyes as the finally sketch that was brought together by the lights was the girl in front of kinu-san, adding more detail to her appearance as it dawned on Mai.

Fuschida Chikako.

And then it came, a pair of sharp scissors, which glimmered in the stalls lights. Chikako slowly got on her knee's reaching out for Kinu-san's recistent wrists and brought the scissors in between her small wrists.

"No! Don't!" Mai begged. Though, she knew it was a dream, a horrible one, that she would wake up from...right?

"It's for your own good Kinu-chan" Fuschida whispered to her, her eyes looking directly into Kinu-san's begging one's as she added pressure to the scissors handles, and snipped Kinu-sans wrists. Cutting through her vein were most blood directly lied.

Kinu-san groaned softly, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as the others released her from the hold they had on her. Her body wilted into the bathroom sink, her eyes having a glazed, unsure look about them. She remained still and didn't try to move. Having already given up, or not enough strength in her. But all Mai knew was that it was over, Kinu-san couldn't survive that, but she knew that if it had happened to her, she would have fought harder to survive. Not give up so easily.

As consciousness began to dawn on her, Mai felt herself waking up, only to hear one last murmur...

"Stay away from him!"

* * *

"Mai! Mai!" A voice yelled, the person adding pressure to her arm in an effort of waking her up.

"Uh.." Mai groaned. Her eyes opening ever so slightly as the sun burned them. "What...?" Mai murmured. Trying to remember what had happened, and where she was.

"Class is about to start" Ayako said as she stood in front of Mai, hands on her hips, her hair the same blaze of colour "And you have to leave so students can sit" she continued

"Oh!" Mai gasped, relising where she was as she looked around, rubbing her eyes furiously as she yawned "Thanks Ayako" she muttered, still have asleep as she stumbled to a standing position. Naru was deffinitly furious about his lack of tea, and Gene was probably worried about where she was.

Ayako shook her head in dissbalief "How can you even fall asleep in such a place" she sighed.

Mai laughed nervously, and slowly began to turn her back to Ayako, only to be stopped by her once again.

"Mai," She started "Did you cut your hair?"

"What?" Mai turned around quickly

"Cut your hair" She repeated, touching the ends of Mai's hair "It looks like you took a pair of scissors and just cut at it at random places" She snickered

"What?!" Mai gasped again, running towards the classroom window, since it was all there was to really see her reflection. And as she looked into the glass window, sure enough she saw it. The end of her hair had been cut off, but nothing more. Just a small piece of the back of her head. And she hadn't cut her hair...

* * *

A/N: Uhhh!! I suck, lol!! I didn't know how I was going to introduce Masako-chan and Ayako-chan into the story, so tried to just automatically push them in, but I was to pushy with there remarkable charecters!!! I broke Masako, and Ayako TT^TT I wanted to try and add a similar Masako character and not change the character that the author had made, but its actually very hard to come up with what Masako should say, because I really do like her as a character, I don't want to bash her like some do, but I totally changed her! And Ayako, uh! I'm terrible! Lol. But anyway, I just wanted to ask you readers this question, I'd like you all to answer because I honestly can't seem to come up with if Masako should be a phycic or not. I think it would be cool either way. So please answer what _you _think, not what _I _think. I hope for comments and reviews about how bad I'm doing. And how to correct this mistake I have unfolded upon myself!


	8. Case One: Part 3, Clues and Injuries

**A/N: I really am getting worse at writing, I swear. But hopefully this chapter satisfies you all! Here you are, chapter 7!**

* * *

Case One: Strategies in the Schoolyard

Part 3: Clues, and Injuries

**Day Two, Evening**

"So Mai's being targeted" Naru said in a thoughtful manner, hand to his chin as he stood by her. Gene, Bou-san, and John worriedly surrounded her, staring and asking if she was okay. Which she always answered "yes" to.

Though it was obvious that she didn't fool them, she barley fooled herself. But she couldn't just go and say she wasn't fine. Or that her life was in jeopardy. Which it was. So she put on a tough face as looked up from her thoughts at Naru. Who now stood above her and quickly brought her to her senses as he touched her head, rather, her hair. Observing it in a way that made Mai blush.

"I'm not a science project Naru!" Mai growled, standing up from her seated position to pull away from his gentle grasp on the cut ends of her hair "I'm just a normal girl that somehow got involved in all of this..." She went on, murmuring softly as she fought back tears.

"I never said that Mai. I am simply trying to figure out why it is that _you _were attacked. You are not the type of girl that the spirits would attack. The spirits have a certain _type _that they go after. And you don`t fit the criteria"

"What do you mean?" Mai peered at him, stress reflecting in her brown eyes.

"I mean that many of the other girls that were attacked had more of a social standing in a way that reflected their appearance." He answered her, walking towards his desk to look that the portfolio's of the girls that had been attacked. And the four girls that had possibly started it all. The question was, how had it even started?

"Wait-!" Mai snapped out of her thoughts, her jaw snapping open "Did you just call me unpopular, and ugly?!" Mai stared at him in disbelief

"It seems that you said it for me" He looked up at her, humour reflecting in his aquatic eyes.

Mai growled, already ready to say something as she took a step forward, when Gene got between the two "Now, now" Gene said "This isn't the time to get into a disagreement"

"That's right" Bou-san agreed, putting a hand on Mai head and ruffling her hair "Right now we've gotta figure out what's going on"

Mai sighed and nodded, bringing her hand up to meet Bou-san, she rested her fingers through his.

"Takiwaga-san, what did the students say?" Naru asked, turning in Mai's direction as Bou-san moved his hand off Mai's head.

"Well..." Bou-san started, his voice deepening "We did find something"

"The students wouldn't say anything at first Mr Davis, but-"

"-they said that a week before, a male student had arrived-"

"What would this have to do with the case, Bou-chan?" Saito interrupted, taking Mai off guard since she hadn't seen him enter the room in the first place.

"I was getting to that." Bou-san grunted "When he arrived, that was when strange things started to happen. Not anything supernatural, but the girl's friendship started to get a little bumpy."

"In the very beginning, it was said that he was a very good looking student. Who automatically became popular with the ladies of the school" John began

"But it appears that he was a playboy" Bou-san cut in "He charmed all of the girls in the school. But apparently, he seemed mostly focused on the four girls that had died."

"Chikako-san and the others..." Mai murmured, shivering at the memory of the dream she had had before. She told it to the others because she knew it wouldn't help. How would _her_ dream possibly help the team? It would probably preoccupy them with something that wasn't even useful. Still, it bothered Mai immensely.

Bou-san nodded, "It didn't come out until a month later that he was dating all four of the girls"

"All four?" Gene murmured

John went on for Bou-san "The girls got into a whole disagreement, that quickly ended their friendship"

"And that's when the game started" Gene murmured

"With the boy as the prize" Naru carried on.

"But to death?" Mai peered, horror, and criticism shown clearly on her face "How could you do something that terrible to a friend, you can't kill someone over such a stupid thing-"

"Humans are savages" Ryuu cut in, leaning in his usual spot by the door "They will do anything if it's something they want" he said as he closed his eyes

Mai stared at him, unsure of what to say. _Was_ there anything to say? She knew that there was good and bad in everyone all over the world, but for it to come out in a person over a _guy_. It couldn't be...

"Lin" Naru's voice interrupted the silence as he walked to Lin-san, by the computer that he always sat at, "What are the temperatures at in the rooms" he asked as he peered over Lin's shoulder.

"It's hard to say with the body heat of all the students from the day interfering" he murmured, typing in something on the keyboard to point at the screen once more "But there seems to be a cool front in one of the classrooms" he went on.

"What room?" Naru asked

"Room 243" He answered quietly

Naru turned and began to walk towards the door, Bou-san and John already on the move "John, Takiwaga-san, I need you to go look into the students deaths some more. And possibly get ready to exercise it" Naru ordered, not even looking back "Gene, Mai. Let's go" he ordered, already opening the door.

"What?!" Mai gasped out "I'm not going!" Mai gasped out as Naru slowly turned his head to look back at her, smirking

"Would you rather stay with Lin, Saito, and Ryuu?"

Mai looked at the floor, frowning as she sighed sadly and began to reluctantly follow Naru out the door

"Naru" Ryuu said, stopping Naru by the door once again "There _is _something here. I just can't figure out _where. _So be on guard."

Naru didn't say anything, but from the look in both his, and Gene's eyes, they took his word for it. And as the seconds passed, Naru began to take his leave for the last time. Mai being dragged reluctantly behind him, with Gene gently pushing her along.

"N-Neh, you guys don't this anything going to show up, do you?" She asked in a stutter, the light that slipped through the base`s door being extinguished as it shut behind them, and they made their way through the hallway.

"Maybe" Gene said teasingly

Mai whimpered as she continued to follow them down the empty hallways. Silence rung in her ears, as the eeriness of the lack of light and sound got to her. She had stayed afterschool some times, but never this late, when you couldn't see anything, with only the moons rays to guide your way.

"It's not likely, even with three people, spirits are quite shy" Naru said as the silence dragged on. Mai couldn't be sure, but had Naru tried to cheer her up?

Her cheeks reddened slightly as she realised that possibly the most good looking boys that she had ever met, were walking with her in the middle of the night. Well, not exactly _walking, _more like _dragging_. But still.

"B-But..." Mai mumbled as she looked around in the corner of her eye to make sure nothing scary was about to jump out at her.

Suddenly she felt something grasp her hand. It wasn't cold, or clammy, or transparent; but warm. A really nice, big, warm hand that grasped hers. And when she looked over to her right, she saw who it belonged to.

"_We_ won't let anything happen to you Mai" he smiled lightly at her with one of _his _smile's, that always made her feel all warm and flustered "If we hold hands, I won't lose you, right?"

"Gene..." she mumbled off, her cheeks glowing in the moons rays. "Thank you" she smiled slightly, the blush that stained her cheeks evident.

Gene continued to smile as they continued down the hallway, Naru not saying a word about his brother's actions. Which Mai had to think, was nice for a change. The silence that Naru didn't ruin with a lewd comment about what they were doing. Not that they were doing anything wrong, that was just Naru.

"Is this the room?" Naru said suddenly, stopping in front of a door, that was obviously labelled 243.

"Yeah" Mai nodded, releasing Gene's hand, she walked towards his brother's side and took out a long chain of keys to all the rooms in the school, from the back pocket of her sweater.

She knew it was locked so Naru quickly stepped to the side, and she began to struggle with the massive amount of keys. Trying to find the matching set to the room.

And awkward silence once again entered the area, much like what it often did when the three of them were alone. Only this time, she felt pressured by each of their stares that lied on her back.

It wasn't like the usual glare that she often received from Naru, either. It was one that involved both brothers. Like there was a battle of whit's, not just stares, but whit's, passing through each form. Their eyes flashing from Mai to each other. Which didn't make it any easier for her to find the keys!

"Ah!" She said, happiness growing in her heart as she realised that she had found the key, quickly opening the door, and turning around quickly to smile brightly at them and say "I found the key"

Both brothers were staring at her, but quickly looked away when Mai met there equally dark eyes, and continued towards the door were Mai stood in now.

When the trio finally entered the room and the amount of silence stayed the same, Mai took it as her duty to break the silence "So why can't you perform an exorcism?" Mai asked, looking anywhere but near Naru or Gene's faces.

"I'm surprised that you even know what that means" It was hard to tell with how dark it was, but Mai thought she saw a sliver of a smirk on Naru's upturned lips

"Of course I know! I've watched the _Exorcist."_ Mai said, clearly insulted by how he had once again belittled her. Especially when it was not needed in the conversation at all.

Gene ignored Mai and Naru`s disagreement and quickly answered her question, humour reflecting in his voice "At the moment, there hasn't been any signs of paranormal activity. We can't even be sure if there is anything supernatural here."

"But my hair... and even Ryuu-kun said that he felt something here" Mai collaborated as Naru walked towards the switch that would light the room.

"Yes, but there is no proof that what he said was true. Other than what he feels, we need temperatures and some activity around the school that can't be explained" Gene continued on, as the lights flickered on. There were two things that caught Mai's attention, One; was how happy Gene seemed to be, even more than usual, and two; was the abnormally red coloured words that were glowing on the wall.

Mai gasped, not saying anything as Gene and Naru's eyes followed hers to the walls. Her body felt limp, as though she had been walking for days, and could not walk another step, and leaned against Gene's lean figure.

"What is this...?" Mai finally said, breaking the silence as air began to fill her lungs.

Her brown eyes began to scroll over the small sentence of red, which was sickingly close to the colour of blood, and whispered it out as Gene and Naru made their way towards the wall to examine it.

"BEWARE MAI TANIYAMA, FOR YOUR BLOOD WILL SOON BE SPILLED TOO" was written. The writing was sloppy, with the red dripping down the wall in a horror-movie-kind-of-way. A way that made Mai shiver as her eyes glazed over at the sight before her.

Naru and Gene mirrored one another as their hands traced over the letters, their eyes narrowing in the exact same shape

"It was recently put here" Gene said "It`s still wet"

Mai took a shaky step towards them and got closer to the wall covered in red "Who could have..?" she didn't finish her sentence, how could she? Who would not only threaten, but target Mai? She had got on some girls nerves sometimes, sure. But not enough to _threaten her life_.

"It may not even be who, Mai" Naru began for her "It may be, _what_ did this"

"What?" Mai repeated

"A spirit, something else possibly" Gene answered her, as the trio circled the wall with not only their eyes, but their body's.

"But you said there was no proof that there were spirits here" Mai murmured, still in shock from what lay in front of her.

"There isn't" Naru said "The only living thing that could enter this room possibly, would be the teachers, principal, and our team."

"While a spirit could get in without any trouble..." Mai murmured

Naru and Gene were silent, which meant that they were doing their usual deep thinking exercises. Mai let them do this so that she could do her own investigating. Obviously, be the time the two were finished with their thoughts, Mai hadn't found anything. The thing that had probably been most useful in the scene that they stood in, was probably the door that had been locked. Of course, Gene and Naru had discovered this, but Mai wasn't a detective, what help could she be? But that door, only someone with a key could enter it, or someone that was non-living with no use for doors. What did that mean?

* * *

**Day 3, Late Morning**

"It's all quite strange, neh?" John said aloud, as he followed Mai down the hallway of the high school, Bou-san in tow behind them as each of them held one box of equipment that had been left in the van outside. "What does Mai-san have to do with this?" John went on, his voice trailing behind as they reached their destination, the base.

"Maybe she has everything to do with this" Bou-san entered into the conversation as he placed the box of equipment on a small coffee table. He grunted as he grabbed Mai's box from her waiting hands, and placed it down. "Maybe she's in their way. Maybe she's more useful than Naru thinks"

"What does Naru _think?_ " Mai growled, annoyed that Naru was even insulting her behind her back "Since when was I _not _useful?" she questioned angrily.

John looked nervously down at the floorboards, not wanting to take part in Mai`s wrath.

Bou-san ignored Mai`s distant grumbles, and said "What I`m saying is, maybe there`s something we`re missing..?" He mumbled off, looking up at the ceilings pasty walls, in deep thought. Before quickly swerving his head in Mai`s direction "Mai, have you had any other dreams lately?"

Opening her mouth to reply to his question in shock, she was cut off by the door slamming open, and Ayako walking towards her, "Mai!" she said, her voice sounding as though she were choking on the air itself "I`m sorry, but I need you to come with me right away."

"What? Why?" Mai said, clearly caught off guard by Ayako`s declaration. She had never bothered to come to Mai when she knew that she was busy with the case, or anything really. But what was so important that she had to come with her?

Ayako breathed in a shaky breath, her hands slowly coming up to Mai`s shoulders, to rest them there in a reassuring, parental way. "Mai" she started "There`s been an accident."

Mai remained silent, her breath caught in her throat, her legs growing weak, and her brown eyes growing wide. She knew it couldn`t be good.

"Masako fell down the stairs and hit her head on the railing. And it seems, that she is in an unstable position as we speak... "

And then everything went numb. The world went dark. The room went quiet. And Mai`s thoughts were silenced.

The only thing that remained in Mai`s head were the words that kept on replaying in the back of her head

_BEWARE MAI TANIYAMA, FOR YOUR BLOOD WILL SOON BE SPILLED __**TOO**_

* * *

**A/N: Well, I did an absulutly terrible job on that one. Totally bad, though I _did _enjoy writing it cause of Mai and Gene`s little moment hehe**

**But other than that, a totally bad job. But I did try! Sorry for posting so late too, because of me stopping in the middle of it all, only to write again a week later made me lose my charecters persona a little because of it. But anyway, please read and review, and tell me how bad I did all ready!!**


	9. Case One:Part 4, Exorcisms and Ghosts

Case One: Strategies in the Schoolyard

Part 4: Exorcisms and Ghosts

**Day 4, Late Morning**

It had been a day since the accident, where Masako-chan, or rather, Mai's _best friend_, fell down the stairs. The stairs in her school that had apparently been were all the attacks had started. And of all things, where Fuschida Chikako had died.

When Mai had finally come to, she ran to the hospital, only to find out Masako's state had been stabilized, but not in a good way.

Masako-chan was in a coma, a coma that may take days, months, possibly years, to come out of. And from what Mai learned, it seemed as though Masako-chan was the only thing holding her back from waking up. It still seemed unbelievable to Mai that just one person's state of mind could be what's holding them back from waking up all together.

So Mai took it as her duty to wait, and pray for Masako-chan's awakening.

But she knew it wasn't just Masako-chan that was holding her back from waking up. No. It was the sprits that were the cause of Masako-chan's accident, and her not waking up. So Mai _knew _what she had to do, as she held Masako's pale hand in her own. The doll like girls face holding no emotion. And so still that Mai might have believed that she was dead then and there, if she hadn't noticed the silent flutter of Masako's eyelids. Mai _knew _that she had to save Masako-chan, by any means necessary. Especially since the attack was to be held on herself altogether.

**Afternoon**

"Mai-san!" John gasped out as Mai entered the base, later that day "What are you..?" He started but failed to ask the question that Bou-san asked for him

"What _are _you doing here?" Bou-san asked, his deep eyes on her like everyone else's.

"To work" Mai said simply "I am an assistant, aren't I?" She peered, as she walked towards the kettle. Already refilling it for future needs that Naru would find necessary.

"But Hara-san...?" John murmured to himself rather than her

Mai turned to face her team, looking at them with tired eyes and dried up tears. Swallowing the lump in her throat that had begun to grow, as she said in a hard voice "Masako-chan is out there. In a _coma_. I can't just sit there by her side, knowing that the thing that had done this is still out there. And may be hurting someone I care about as we speak"

There was a drift of silence that entered the room after she said that, everyone's face a mixture of emotion that she did not try to read. She knew what she had to do, and this was it.

Finally, the silence was broken as Bou-san walked by her, towards the door, and put a caring hand on her shoulder, nodding at her in an understanding way, before continuing to the door. John quickly followed behind him, giving Mai a small smile before making his way out the door.

And finally, only Ryuu, Naru, Gene, and Lin-san were left in the room. She hadn't seen Saito anywhere, so she didn't bother asking where he was.

"Mai." Naru said as he walked towards her. Not saying anything until he was in front of her, flinching away as he reached out to touch her just below her eyelids.

She slowly relaxed into his warm hand, which is the closest she had ever got to Naru, as his thumb grazed over a spot just below her eyelids. "Are you sure about this?" He asked.

This was the most considerate Naru that she had ever seen, so it took her a minute to respond. To think, to be _sure, _about what he was asking her.

She nodded slowly, his thumb still tracing her face "I'm sure. It's the least I can do for her" She said, as she watched Naru's face not falter with emotion that most would have written on there. "She's my _best friend, _Naru" She continued, feeling as though she should explain herself.

Naru finally released her face to nod at her, walking towards Lin-san to probably talk about something related to the case.

And as Mai turned her back to him, to face the small kitchenette in the base, she heard another voice from behind her "He's worried about you, you know" Ryuu said, Mai quickly turning to face him as their eyes locked "They _all _are."

Mai was silent; thinking about what he was saying when she realised what he was saying. She _couldn't _get to close to them, or the spirits would take them away, just like Masako. Ryuu cared about them all probably as much as she cared about Masako, so she could understand what he was saying. That he didn't want to lose his friends too. Finally, as the silence went on, she broke it to ask him a question that had popped up in her head, and that she wondered to herself. "What about you?" She asked glumly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, scarceness becoming evident in his eyes. He was still scared of her.

"Are you worried too?" She asked as her eyes began to burn, the same familiar lump growing in the back of her throat.

He didn't answer, only nearly looked at her as though he actually did feel bad for her, much like the others showed, but Naru would not. Maybe he would not, because he just didn't care? That, or he was too proud to be lost in the human emotions.

His mouth opened once, but it mearly looked like he were choking on air itself, like fish out of water. And then he abruptly turned around and left her. Like a animal frightened by a human. Because no matter how big and scary they look, they are always more afraid of you, than you are of them.

She could understand his fear, with his gift, and ability to see into someone's life with just a simple thing as a touch. But it felt weird and sad for someone as big, and possibly scary as him, to be afraid of _her_.

"What have you done to Mr Yamada-kun?" She heard another voice from behind as she stared after Ryuu, quickly turning around to face Gene. The smallest smile, perched on his lips.

"I have _no idea_" She said truthfully, looking at Gene with a dull haze in her brown eyes.

For reasons unknown to Mai, Gene smile slipped off his face as he looked at her, the same worry from the day that they met and when she burned her leg on the tea, coming across his face.

"Gene-?" She started, but was cut off by his similarity to what Naru had done previously. Only this time, he cradled her face in his big warm hands, looking down at her with sympathy in his eyes.

"I'm sorry about Masako-chan, Mai..." He said, his breath tickling her face

Mai didn't say anything as her eyes began to tear up, discarding her line of vision to anything but Gene's face.

He asked in a sad voice "Have you been crying all night?"

This shocked Mai, ignoring her tears, she looked up at Gene, her hands slowly falling on top of Gene's that were still cradling her face.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her cheeks warming ever so slightly

"Your eyes," He started "they're red and bloodshot. And you have deep bags under your eyes from lack of sleep" He said

_Wait _Mai thought _does that mean that Naru was touching my face, because he __**was **__worried about me? And saw the bags under my eyes?_

That couldn't be right, _Naru _being caring and considerate? She would have never believed such a thing if she had heard it the day before. But when she thought about it, Naru _had _been looking and touching her under her eyes.

Could it be that the narcissistic jerk was more clever than she had thought? He _actually _noticed it so fast? Or did she look worse than Gene was putting on?

She hadn't looked in the mirror at all, ever since yesterday. She had went to see Masako, stayed overnight (crying), and quickly left to the office in the morning. Not bothering to brush her hair, teeth, or eat anything. Only to go and put her uniform on and rush out the door to the base.

So Naru actually _could _produce feelings? _Fascinating._

Mai stayed silent. She didn't know what to say with Gene's compassion overruling her, just as much as Naru's was. So as the seconds past, Naru seemed to take it that it was his responsibility to break it.

"Gene, Mai" he broke in "It seems that we will be holding a exorcism when the sun sets." he said as Gene slowly released his gentle hold on Mai's face "So be prepared..."

**Night, 6:00**

"I don't get it..." Mai said to herself as a perplexed look shrouded her face, as she sat by the corner of room 246, where one of the girls had been killed, and where the exorcism had lead them.

"What do you mean?" Saito asked, finally returning from wherever he had escaped to in the first place.

"The ghosts. Why take hair?" Mai asked herself "And where does it go?" Mai peered

"Where _does _it go..?" Gene wondered with her, a look of pure curiosity coming across his face as he stood beside her, with Naru, and Ryuu across from them.

"That's what I was wondering..." Mai wondered as she brought her hand to her chin. "Does it go to the spirits, or does it go to that boy...You know, the one who may have lead them to kill each other?"

Naru cut in "It may become clear once the exorcism is finished. And while they are being exercised, Lin is looking into more information about the girls" without looking up from his paperwork, he continued "But it does seem uncommon for the attacks to begin once the victim's hair has been cut."

Was it just Mai, or had Naru agreed with her for once?

"A spirit often holds the same personality as they had when they were alive. Some have said that spirits may even continue their daily activities without realising there death." Gene went on for his brother

"So the girls took a hobby in cutting other girls hair?" Mai said sceptically "Doesn't that seem a little odd?"

"Maybe we're looking at the wrong person..." Ryuu cut in "The girls seem to preoccupied with other things to bother bullying others _physically_"

"But isn't there a possibility that the girls had done something physical? Maybe even killed someone?"

"There is always a possibility." Naru said, his eyes finally lifting from his page "But what would make you believe in a _logical_ possibility" his eyes glazed over with newfound knowledge. Knowledge that Mai had kept something from the team that may or may not be useful. Her dream of the murder that Chikako-san had committed, was what she had kept hidden.

But Mai ignored this to turn off Naru's accusations "D-Did you just call me _stupid_?" Mai hissed

Naru didn't take the bait "What would make you think that they had committed murder?" He questioned her

"W-What do you mean?" Mai asked "Lin-san had said that there was a possibility of murder. They just hadn't been convicted of it"

Before Naru could open his mouth, Bou-san cut through on the wake talkie "Naru-chan? Do you copy?" Bou-san said in a joking manner

Naru gave her a quick sideways glance before turning his back to her, already beginning to talk through the wake talkie "Are you ready to begin?" He asked Bou-san through the small wake talkie.

"Hai" Bou-san concurred through the device, silence coming from the other end as Naru changed channels on the device and began to talk to John on the other end "Are you ready Brown-san?" he asked

"Yes, Davis-san" John answered in his quick reply.

Naru put the device down on a nearby table and turned to the team "We are beginning" and walked to the center of the room. Ready to begin the exorcism with Gene's help.

The team, well, the one's that had the ability to banish spirits to the netherworld, had been separated to 3 different that, ironically, were directly beside each other. John-san was doing his exorcism in room 249; Bou-san was in room 243; and they took heed in room 246.

At first, though Mai hadn't said anything, she had been against the separation. What if they were attacked too? Just like Masako-chan. Over the few days that she had known them, she had grown abnormally close to the members of the mystery team. Maybe she was close enough to the team for the spirit to target them?

Or maybe the spirit only attacked the victim's most important thing, _once_. And not more than one time. That is what made Mai bite her tongue. Maybe she was blowing it all out of proportion, and was holding them back from solving the case.

She had come to them in the beginning for their help, and protect the students of this school, and she wasn't going to sidetrack them from this case. If anything, she would protect them. That's why most of the evening consisted of her keeping a close watch on the team. Watching out for any sudden movements, noises, etc, etc.

"Neh," Mai started as she watched Gene and Naru unite at the center of the room; the chairs and tables had been moved against the walls previously "now that I think of it, I never knew that you guys had phycic powers like everyone else." Mai said.

"What did you think we did, Mai?" Naru asked sarcastically

"Well..." Mai began "I thought you were just the bosses that came up with the plans, like doing the exorcism. And finding out the facts with Lin-san." Mai continued "You don't _seem _phycic..."

Gene smiled lightly like he often did, this time humour flashed through his blue eyes "We don't _seem_ phycic?" He repeated, humour evident in his voice.

Mai blushed at the way she had said it, it wasn't her fault that they hadn't mentioned much about themselves. "W-Well..." Mai murmured, embarrassed by the way he had put it.

Naru cut in, looking over in her direction now "We must begin now" He said, turning his back to her to quickly say "It would be best for this knowledge to be kept from Lin"

"You mean Lin-san doesn't know that you have phycic abilities-?" Mai started, but was cut off by Saito "Lin-chan doesn't like it when Naru-bou, and Gene-bou use their abilities" he said cheerfully, straddling a nearby chair by the hips.

"What do you mean?" Mai asked

"Naru, and Eugene have an ability that can deteriorate there energy and sometimes there life time. So Lin doesn't like them using it" Ryuu cut in

"It's dangerous then?" Mai said, though it didn't sound it, she found herself worrying about their health during the case.

"Gene helps somehow" Saito cut in, reassuring her somehow by the fact that with Gene, it may be okay

"Helps?" Mai peered

"It's complicated" Gene said, continuing to smile at her as he also turned his back to her.

"But what if...-" Mai started only to be cut off by Naru's unmoving figure "Nothing will happen. I am merely channelling the spirit, hoaxing it, to come."

Gene looked at Mai quickly to say "Besides, we have you, Mai-chan, if something goes wrong." and turned his back to her.

She knew Gene had only said that to make her feel better, and somehow, it had. But she still felt her emotions on the exorcism wavering with her worry. Not only was there a possibility the spirit would attack them, but now she realised that Naru and Gene may be at more risk than she had thought. She had to keep a very sharp watch on them.

But it was then when the clock struck seven, and the exorcism began, that Mai realised she would need to do more than keep watch on the team.

It was then that a mixture of bother Bou-san and John's voice came through the receiver of the wake talkie; Naru and Gene quietly closed their eyes and said nothing, as Bou-san and John recited the words that was supposed to bring the spirits forth.

"_Naumaku san manda bazaradan..._" Bou-san said through the receiver, probably having his fingers in a weird position as he said his words. He had shown Mai this before the exorcism began, when he was just rehearsing his knowledge.

"_Our Father, which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name..._" John was saying in line with Bou-san, moving in his silver crucifics around the room in time with Bou-san fan.

As their words slowly began to grow more loud and bewitching, she felt a small rumble from underneath her feet. She shook it off as nothing at first, but as their words got loud enough for it to echo across room to room, Mai felt it again, more evident than before. The walls and floorboards creaked as though a great weight were perched on it and then, as though a spring had been released, the room went silent. Silent enough for a needle to be heard if it had been dropped. But as though that spring had been re-sprung, Mai found the room burst with noise.

The walls shook violently and Bou-san and John's words were stopped by the loud noise of someone, _something_, banging on the walls loud enough to possibly bring the whole room down.

"What's with these rapping sounds?" Bou-san said through the receiver, sounding a great distance away as it began to lose its signal.

"Rapping?!" Mai said, sheltering her ears from many screams that emanated from behind the walls. Not screams of terror, or remorse from what Mai _thought _they had done to each other; but _anger_.

And as the silence continued, and Naru and Gene continued to silently stay in the center of the room, their eyes fluttering in a dream like state, much like Masako-chans. Mai saw a flicker of white material, and the smell of cherry blossoms fill her nose. And that was when she realised that Masako-chan stood right in front of her, in the same white hospital kimono Mai had seen her in before she had left. The same perfume that Masako-chan continued to deny was perfume, but just a natural sent that she had. It _was _Masako-chan.

Her blue eyes looked Mai over like she had when they first met in Kindergarten, when Chen Yung was teasing Mai over her how her hair looked as though it hadn't been brushed. Masako had took one look at Mai, much like the look she was giving Mai now, and took Mai by the arm and said not to bother her _new best friend _Mai.

And when Masako finally finished assessing Mai, the walling came to an abrupt stop as Masako lifted her withering, transparent hand towards Mai. As though she were casting Mai to come with her. It was then as Mai raised her own hand to meet Masako's, that she noticed how scared, and horrified Masako-chan looked, and Mai noticed that now her own hands were shaking as much as Masako's "Masako-chan..!" Mai said in angst, as she finally met Masako's fair hand, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Mai..." Masako said in a fair voice, a sad smile playing onto her face as she held Mai's hand in her own.

"Taniyama, don't!" Mai heard Ryuu yell, as everything began to go dark, and the last thing she felt was the rumbling and whales cease. And everything grow black and silent.

* * *

A/N: I'm SO sorry guys, I ruined the chapter. I tried to do what most of you were asking, which was to add in more Naru and Ryuu moments (pretty much more Naru though) which I _did _try. The problem is, I was planning on Naru to cradle Mai's face. But when I got down to it, I realised, Eh, that's _totally _OOC.

So I gave up and gave it to Gene. But I did try to make Mai think of Naru when Gene did it to her, because she more or less (from what I was trying to give off in the story) thinking of what _Naru _had done, and not that Gene was cradling her face. So I'm sorry!

Other than that, I had fun writing this. I spent most of the time finishing this chapter in my March Break hotel during my free time, lol :P anyways, I hoped you enjoyed at least a little.

So please read, review, and insult my terribleness _**please.**_


	10. Case One: Part 5, Discovery and Truth

Case One: Strategies in the Schoolyard

Part 5: Discovery, and Truth

It was dark. Black, to be honest. Much like it had been in her previous dream. With the small orbs of life still circling the area as the only light that the place could provide. Only this time, Mai wasn't floating in the center of the bathroom, or school, but the room that she had been in previously. Room 246, where, apparently, Saeki Ko had committed suicide by hanging herself. The reasons were unknown, and the death was fishy to her team mates. But if she _was _right, then this dream, _possibly _reality, was going to show her it.

She wasn't quite sure of what she should do, should she watch helplessly as she had done before, only to be haunted by the sight of the Saeki Ko's death later on; or try relentlessly, and _uselessly, _to help?

Without any chance to make her decisions, she was caught of guard as the once deafening silence, was lost to voice's. Many loud, erratic voices. Angry like the previous dream only this time, as the small lines outlined the scene that the words belonged to, she realised that Saeki Ko wasn't afraid like her _previous_ friend, Modegi Kinu. But was bickering. They all were, like a bicker between friends, only, they weren't friends anymore. More so, they were accomplices, enemy's that worked together, and murdered their so called friend Modegi Kinu-san.

And as their words began to grow louder, and more harsh and angry, she finally caught hold of what they were saying, and what it meant.

"-So you guys are trying to steal him too? I thought Kinu-chan was a problem, but apparently you're no more a friend then she was" Ko-san barked, anger flowing out through each syllable in each word.

"_Trying _to steal him?! He's my boyfriend you bitch!" Kino Hisako said in a high pitched angry squeal.

"Enough!" Fuschida Chikako said, clearly as furious as the other two were "Clearly he will only chose one of us. So now that Kinu-chan is no longer with us, it seems that there will be more of an advantage to all of us now. We'll just have to get him on our own."

Mai watched as the scene went on, knowing that after Kinu-sans death this is what had lead to the very beginning of the game. That would soon lead to _everyone's _death.

"So from here on out, our friendship is _over_. And it will only end with one of us having him." She continued on, her face visibly showing how much she believed in her own strength to win the challenge and her newfound boyfriend.

"Fine" Kino-san growled

"No problem since its obvious I'm going to get him" Ko-san said in a nonchalant voice.

Their voices quickly began to grow garbled and deformed and somewhat distant as the scene before her began to melt away, like a pen on wet paper. And as silence broke her senses once again, and as the numbness of what she had just seen, and heard, set in, she found herself hearing a small voice, as distant as the one that had been once in front of her saying

_So let the games begin..._

_---------------_

"Mai" A voice broke through the blackness of her closed eyelids, and from the dream state that had hidden her from the surface of her consciousness "Mai!" the voice said more loudly this time, more worried, with Mai not responding. But slowly, as the voice brought her to her senses, Mai's eyelids fluttered open quickly seeing who the voice belonged to.

"Naru" Mai breathed, her face inches away from his as her brown eyes met his frosty blues. But there was something different about what was held in his eyes, there was something more... something similar to concern.

But she didn't have a chance to think about it more, because just as quickly as their eyes had met they were broken away. With her being pushed into a seating position, finally noticing how she had been in Naru's arms the whole time, possibly ever since she had fell into that black well of unconsciousness and had lost feel of everything around her.

Now she noticed what was around her, and how everyone's alarmed eyes were on her. Including Lin-san who had probably arrived when she was unconscious. Her face reddened as she quickly left Naru's arms and sat beside Gene.

"What happened...?" Mai murmured questionably, looking at her knee's.

"I'd like to ask _you _that" Bou-san said, breaking the silence as he leaned down to place a parental hand to her forehead, checking for any signs of a fever. But she already knew that she didn't have one. All she knew was that these dreams, these visions, were more than a fever. Much, _much_ more. And it didn't make any sense to her at all.

These sort of things had _never _happened to her. She had always thought of herself as a normal, sane, about average, high school girl. But ever since the start of the case, she began to question it more and more. If there had been documentation on what she had just dreamt, she knew, just _knew, _that it would have been what she had seen and heard _exactly_.

"-you were standing there when the rapping started" John-san cut in "and began to walk toward Oliver-san and Eugene-san when you suddenly fainted."

Masako-chan! That's right, she had seen Masako before everything went black. As she thought of this, she knew her face had given her away, because she could feel the horrified mask of fear that covered her face. She could feel her eyes widen enough that she thought they might fall out, and she could feel her arms pile over with goose bumps. Why had she seen Masako? And more than anything, why hadn't she thought of how strange it was for her to be _standing right in front of her, while she was in a coma at the hospital_?

"It's a good Ryuu caught you in time" Gene sighed contently beside her "Though," his eyes darkened a hint which was somewhat similar to Naru's "it came with a price..." He murmured off.

"Ryuu?" Mai said aloud, realization hitting her as hard as the Masako-chan memory had. That was the voice that had called out to her as she was falling into darkness!

Turning around on her knee's quickly, she found herself looking in Lin-san's direction once again because he was now beside Ryuu, trying to help him up. Ryuu's head was down, a hand covering his face as he started to stand up.

If Ryuu had caught her, didn't that mean that that touch, that gift that he had, had linked them both? Didn't that mean that all her memories; all her pain, love, happiness, and angry filled memories, had been transferred to him?

He had seen every tear, every smile, every word she had ever experienced in one flash of a second. So didn't that mean if he didn't know it right this second, and he looked back and thought "Parents" it would take him to her experience, her memory. And the tear that had been threaded shut in her heart many years ago after the death of _both _of her loving parents.

So now he knew everything about her. And as she thought this she felt a sudden violation come across her. Like someone had been listening in on a conversation she had been having with someone and told others. Only, this was _much, much _worse.

And as fast as that sinking feeling came, it left as she looked at his face. Just a quick glance at his face that had been shaded underneath his black as night hair. And she saw sadness, and, quite possibly, fear. Fear from what she had saw. Maybe from a few days ago, maybe from a few minutes ago, since he was _her _technically. At least with the memories, _her memories_, that filled his head; even for a second.

"Ryuu" She said quickly, getting to her feet to meet him at his side, noticing how he lacked even more than before to look at her face "I'm sorry" She breathed. Taking in the shocked expression that was the only thing he gave her, she took it that he didn't understand for whatever reason she had apologized for. But there were many things "I'm sorry for letting you see some things that I know you tried your hardest not to." She went on, whispering now so that most of the team other than Lin, could not hear.

He continued to give her a shocked expression until he seemed like he thought she was crazy. But she wasn't. At least, she thought she wasn't.

Then, finally, as he began to turn away from her, she thought she saw almost a sliver of a smile on his face. But that couldn't be right, right? If he had, she bet it would be a nice smile too, one that you couldn't take for granted.

Mai soon found herself turning around anxiously to meet Naru's waiting eyes, a spark contrasting between the little space between them "Mai, what are you keeping from us?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Mai inquired back, trying not to stutter as all eyes fell on her.

"I mean, what have you been hiding from the team" He said, with no hint of a question in his tone.

Silence fell as Mai's eyes fell to the cement tiles beneath her, unsure of what to say since Naru's had asked her so intensely. As her heart pounded in her chest, and her ears thrummed hotly against the side of her neck, she felt her eyes leave the floor to meet Naru's once again as he continued "What have you been dreaming?" He asked as both he and Gene gave her a knowing look that showed they both knew that she was keeping something big from them.

Mai sighed, her brown eyes feeling heavy with everything that had happened through the course of the day, and finally began to tell them. Tell them everything. Like how she had dreamed of Modegi Kinu, of her death, and of how her so called friends had been the cause of her demise; just before her hair had been cut. And how she had just dreamed of the beginning of the game a few minutes ago, when she had passed out.

None of it made sense to her. She wasn't crazy, and above all else, she wasn't _phycic. _But as she finished her story she couldn't help but feel a little bit of both. But from what she could tell everyone seemed to believe her.

"So we were right about the bet then..." John murmured to himself, his blue eyes directed to the floor

"But for something so..." Bou-san started off saying, not finishing his probably vile, but truthful, thoughts about the bet that would end their lives.

"So incidentally the boy was the cause of this" Gene mumbled off

"It could quite possibly have been intentional..." Naru went on with his brother

"Mai-chan did say that a boy from one of her first dreams had said they would, and I quote 'Regret this'"

"But to the state of _murder_? Or at least instigating it? I don't think someone can really be that diabolical when they're just trying to stride through puberty." Mai cut in "Besides, who even said that these two where related? We're not even sure who either the guy from my dream, or the guy who possibly instigated it, _are, _let alone if they're the same person_." _Mai paused to breathe, everyone in the rooms eyes once again laid straight on her "Besides, since when have I ever been useful enough to even dream up of something that might help the case. Naru said it himself, I can't even understand the word direction, especially German apparently_. So how could I be phycic?!"_ Mai questioned them, the strain of everything finally coming down upon her. Masako-chan was in the hospital; she was suffering from weird hallucination dreams about others deaths (not the best way to explain that you are not insane); and now she realised she couldn't understand even a word of what _she _was saying.

"Mai," Naru cut in, his figure moving towards her with his usual file in hand "since when had we ever brought up the topic of you being phycic?"

Naru, always cutting to the chase now wasn't he?

Mai's face grew grave as she looked at him straight in the eye, feeling as though they're very minds were connecting until she finally broke it "I don't know..." She answered truthfully, her eyes getting dry, as though the very liquid in them where being smothered "What's happening to me, Naru..?" She asked, her voice giving out on her at the very last second.

He didn't say anything, instead he turned to Bou-san and asked "Has Yamada-san returned yet?"

_Returned? _Mai peered, finally realising that Saito-san was nowhere to be found _When had he left..?_

"No, not yet." Bou-san answered "He's probably gone to call more of the girl's family's find out more on them."

"But don't we already have enough...?" John murmured aloud

_Call?_

"Is that what Saito-san does?" Mai cut in, taking a step towards the team "Question the family's?"

"Not exactly," Gene answered, now taking her hand as she wobbled ever so slightly, making Mai blush at the sudden contact "but pretty close. He often is the best in the team at getting information from the students or others that may have known the spirits"

Mai brought the hand that he had been holding to her side "But when did he leave...?" Mai mumbled

"What matters now is to exercise the remaining rooms" Naru cut in, snapping his case file shut as he met her eyes once again "And not getting stopped in the middle of it"

Obviously, that remark had been meant for her, but for some reason it didn't bother her. She was just happy she was back in this technically plain and simple world with her friends. And not one's that would trade her off, trade her _life_, for another.

She nodded with the rest of the team, everyone already making they're way for the exit.

* * *

**A garbled noise entered the room**

It sounded as though someone were sputtering nonsense, harsh nonsense, or at least it sounded loud and elaborate enough for you to _think _it were someone saying something. But really as the orbs scrawled together like they often did, Mai saw the same 3 familiar figures. With the regular threesome of Saeki Ko, Kino Hisako, and Fuschida Chikako, only, this time Saeki Ko wasn't a part of the ruse, this time, from what Mai could see, she was the _victim_. She was the one that was sputtering the nonsense as Fuschida Chikako _choked _her, with Kino-san holding Ko-san down as she struggled reluctantly, Fuschida Chikako's long slender fingers wrapped around her throat. Both her and Kino-sans hair a mess of unruly curls. And even with the small amount of detail the orbs sometimes gave Mai, she could see the insaneness in their eyes. And how they felt that what they were doing was right, and fair, being said in the debts of they're eyes.

They thought that as Ko-san struggled for a breathe of air, that they were still friends, friends all wanting the same thing, and having to fight for it, fight for a _guy_.

The garbled gibberish was becoming more silent now with Ko-sans body becoming very still, Mai's eyes growing wet but not drawing away either. She knew that whatever happened, she had to watch it to the end, to help the case, and to possibly save Masako-chan.

Finally it became positive that she was dead, with the gibberish stopping completely, and her body becoming uncannily still as Kino-san pushed her eyelids closed in a sort of familiarity that only loved one's would do. Not the killers that they were.

With Kino-san's help, Ko-sans body was soon raised ever so slightly till it sat slumped against the classroom's supply closet door. Chikako-san quickly knotted the ends of a rope that she had pulled out of a bag slung around her shoulders and began to tie it up against Ko-san's throat. Tight enough to give a good show of a suicide, and lose enough not to 'injure' her; and quickly tied it against the supply closets knob.

They were crazy, insane. Because they did this. Killed a life, a _friend_, just for someone the barley knew, and someone that they wouldn't get the chance to enjoy since they wouldn't be alive to see it.

* * *

**Day 5, 4:45 p.m**

It had been a day since the two vision's. She had told Naru and Gene about the previous dream last night quietly after Naru's morning (daily, _hourly_) ritual of tea, and had only received a look from both brothers. But she knew that they had took it seriously from the way they had looked at one another. But from the night before nothing similar had happened, and no more occurrence's had occurred in the middle of the exorcism that Naru could blame her for. But Mai still couldn't shoulder the unsettling feeling that she was missing something about the case. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

So to ignore the aching feeling she kept herself sidetracked with Naru's order's of tea, and the fact that both he, Gene, and not to mention the rest of the team knew more than she did. So wouldn't they notice if there was something off?

But it had been 5 days, and from what she knew Masako-chan wasn't waking up anytime soon. And even though she wanted to spend more time with her, she knew that her place was with the team. Even if it meant just serving tea, she would do anything to see Masako's un-slumbering face again. Except for the possible fact that haunted Mai. What if Masako died? What if that really was her just before she fell unconscious? What if she was dying?

"Mai-chan" Bou-san's voice entered Mai's ears, her eyes finally dragging away from the wallpaper that she had been staring at for the past ten minutes. "Are you okay? You look like you've been in a deep thought for a long time" He asked, a slightly worried expression coming across his face.

"Ah" Mai said, putting up her hands to block away his warm parental feel "I'm fine" Mai smiled lightly

"Would you like to have a break, Mai-chan?" Gene cut in, walking towards her in a similar manner of Naru, balancing other case files together.

"No, I'm fine" Mai insisted "All I do is make tea, so it's the least I can do." Mai smiled again

"But you seem to have no time to yourself recently, at lunch your helping, as well as after school. Your family must not get any time to see you" Gene went on, coming up with reason's on his own for Mai to take a break

"No, ah, not really" Mai started, seeing Ryuu look up at the mention of parents, a sadness that she hadn't yet seen reflecting in his eyes. It made Mai not want to say anything in fear that _he _may cry. "I'm always busy like this, so..." Mai went on

"But still, with such strange things happing around you, and with Miss Hara-san's accident, I must insist" He went on, smiling now as he began to walk her to the door. Mai not noticing till the last second that she was walking with him obediently.

"But..." Mai started as exited out the door

"Just have a break for ten minutes at least" Gene continued to insist as he slowly began to close the door

"But...!"

"See you in ten minutes" He continued to smile, the door finally closing, and the glow from the base beginning to extinguish.

He hardly took no for an answer. He was more like his brother then Mai had thought, she noticed.

Slowly she began to take her leave, not quite sure of where she should, or could, even go. She would have preferred to stay in the base, if she _had _to have a break, to be honest. At least to stay in the warmth of her friends, and where she felt safe. When she walked through the empty halls of the school, starting down the stairs, all she felt was weariness. As though something were going to jump out at her at any second.

_Come on Mai Taniyama! Its only the school hallways, you walk down these all day, every day! So what's there to be afraid of? _Mai encouraged herself mentally as she met the bottom step of the stairs, taking a turn around the corridor.

**But then you aren't alone **another voice mentally told her. Displeasing her greatly since it was true.

And just as she finally got her bearings straight, and the fact that she was going to go to the Student Counsel club room to finish some papers that had been piling up over the days because she had been helping the team, she heard a noise. Like the sound of feet padding against the floor.

Wasn't it strange? For someone to be in the school way past school hours, even after study group hours, and for it to be so loud, but so distant, at the same time?

The footsteps grew louder, now sounding loud enough to be right beside her, but distant enough to be down the east wing of the school while she was in the west.

She began to shiver as her arms began to scale over with goose bumps. Her body already knowing before she did that there was something terribly wrong. And before she knew it, she was down the hall, her feet now echoing the halls _almost _as loudly as the other pair. Stopping almost immediately as she found it, found the door to the swimming pool where she _knew _the sound was coming from.

What was behind the door? That's what made Mai hesitate at the entrance. Would it just be some prankster? A student that stayed later than necessary? Or was it something else? Something that she _knew _couldn't be explained, or believed.

But before she knew it she was already sliding open the door to the swimming pool and taking a lanky step towards it. Her mind was numb with hundreds of thoughts, already feeling the undying fear being pushed away with the door.

She had to do it, she was a part of the student counsel, and this case and team were a part of her responsibility. Weather it was human or not.

Leaning forward with her back foot balancing her she stuck her head through the door, but didn't see anything. It was too dark. The thought made her shiver because if she turned on the lights, what would she see? And more so, would she scare it off with the bright lights of the school pool?

_They probably already know your here... _A voice whispered in the back of her head.

Swallowing _hard _Mai took another step forward, now all the way in the room with the doors cool firm stature not offering much help to Mai.

Reaching to her back pocket, Mai drawed out the flashlight Naru had previously given to her and took in a shaky breathe of chlorine and flicked the switch.

Nothing. She didn't see anything, even with the limited amount of light that she had, she should have seen _someone _right? She knew the footsteps had come from here, she didn't know _how _she knew, but she did. But ever since she had entered the pool the footsteps had stopped. So it wasn't helping much.

Walking ever so surely, she walked towards the pools edge to stop in the center of it. Already knowing that she _had _to check the water. No matter how many horror films she had seen, she had too.

So sucking in a weak breathe she flashed the flashlight to the water. But there wasn't anything there. Laughing at herself lightly she murmured to herself "That's not possibly right?" Mai continued to laugh to herself wearily until she saw something. Something dark, and large enough to possibly be a human, flash by her in the corner of her eye.

Not taking any chance to breathe in another breathe she swung her body with the flashlight to the water. The light slowly creeping up the water until she saw something. At the center of the pool. Wasn't that a _body_?

Noticing the olive coloured hair immediately, even with the small amount of light from the flashlight, she could see that the lanky figure matched her memory.

"...Kino...Hisako-chan?" Mai whispered in a garbled tone, her other hand already coming to clench the flashlight tightly, in a form of a weapon.

What she wasn't expecting in this horror-styled fashion, was for her head to _move._ Half of Kino-san's face submerging from the water to face Mai. Half of her face still submerged in water.

She spoke in a garbled tone much like Mai first had "She...she killed me..." She said slowly and forcefully. The water, no doubt, was causing some trouble for her sense of speak.

"W-...What...?" Mai whispered, though she knew the spirit heard her.

"SHE KILLED ME!" The spirit screamed, the garbled sound now destroyed with the spirits rage. With Mai's thoughts still gathering to quickly for her to read, all she could think was if anything worse could happen, it would be if this spirit started to get out of the water and _walk towards her_.

But she didn't, thank Kami-sama she didn't.

"W-Who...? Who killed you...?" Mai asked her, though she already knew. All along it had been the same girl throughout it all, and also the last one to live

"Chikako-chan..." The voice garbled, and before Mai knew it, she was falling.

Falling into the water with her back to the body and her eyes now locked on Fuschida Chikako, who stood above her, _pushing her under the water_.

"S-S..top!" Mai choked out as the angry spirit continued to push her under, now with a new accomplice dragging her under.

_Why? _Mai thought in the drift that water wasn't choking her _Why are you helping the person that _killed you_? _Mai questioned as tears threatened to be released. Her eyes burning from the over flow of chlorine almost as much as her lungs and throat did.

"You can't have him" The hanky insane voice said, answering her questions immediately "He's _ours_." Fuschida went on.

"Who?!" Mai choked out "I don't even know who _he _is?!" Mai yelled at the spirit above her, and below; suddenly angry about how she had been dragged into this war among spirits over _nothing_. Grabbing onto the edge of the swimming pool and holding on for dear life.

But just as quickly as she had grabbed on, she was dragged off. Her body being pulled under with no difficulty at all, while she thrashed against the spirits with all her might.

Her lungs quickly began to give in as the water filled her insides therally, and air became less available. Was she choking? Was she going to die? No way, that couldn't be right... she hadn't even lived her life to the full extent. She hadn't saved Masako-chan, and woken her from her sleep. She couldn't just _die_. It seemed so impossible, yet so possible with the situation she was in.

But as everything began to blur, and the world seemed to grow more still, more silent, and the two pair of hands began to unwrap themselves from her as she willingly began to float down to the bottom of the pool; she felt that maybe life was easier to take than she had thought. And maybe it was just as easy as hers had been taken

"Mai...-chan!" She heard a gurgled voice enter her ears. The girls had disappeared and now she was staring up at the surface, where she saw someone's blurred figure above.

The figure didn't waste any time, before she knew it she felt a ripple in the water, and a small current grow as the figure became clearer, and clearer. The person was coming to save her wasn't it?

_Saito-san... _Mai's mind whispered contently

She felt him rap his arms around her waist and bring her to his side, where she could feel his muscles tense around her. He began to kick hard, his legs adding to the current as they came closer and closer to the surface, one of his arms enclosed around her waist as the other helped with his legs to bring them to finally meet the surface.

"Mai-chan..." Saito choked out as he pulled her tighter to his side as she choked on the water that had filled her lungs. The water escaped in various places such as her mouth, nose, and eyes which burned. Saito began to pull her up with him, but didn't get much help from Mai with her legs buckling under at the smallest movement.

He grunted as he finally gave one last tug at Mai's uniform and pulled her up, shredding the remaining fabric. Saito fell on his back and breathed in deep, weary breaths, while Mai's body gave one last release of water as she threw up the remaining of it "Terrible..." Mai coughed, bringing a shaky hand up to her lips which quivered under the stress.

"Are you okay?" Saito asked as he pulled himself up into a seating position, already drawing Mai towards him to put a hand on her back.

"Y-...Yeah..." Mai whispered, unsure of what to say. She had almost drowned, hadn't she? Her head throbbed, her stomach lurched, and her throat and eyes burned, and everything seemed to blend together. Black dots came clearly around her, with her head still fuzzy from what just happened. All she knew was that she had to warn everyone.

If the spirit had so easily pulled her under, even with the help of another, she couldn't imagine how much damage it could provoke on the rest of the team if it wanted too.

Saito's warm hand rested on Mai's back in a comforting manner that made her blush ever so slightly. But just as quickly as the blush had formed, it was tookin away with Saito's hand, who was already rising slowly, and helping Mai to her feet.

"We should go and tell Naru-bou right?" Saito said, picking her mind before she even voiced her thoughts "About what happened, and the spirits" He smiled lightly, though Mai found it almost impossible to do so herself.

"Y-...eah" Mai tried to nod, but her head hurt too much to even think of nodding.

Quickly Saito went off to grab a towel for the two of them, both of them now shivering with the cold finally hitting them.

Hugging herself tightly, Mai walked towards the door where Saito had thrown his bag just before jumping into the pool as Mai's rescuer. The bag now lay limp in a small puddle, the zipper half unzipped and some of the items falling out of it.

Mai got down on her knees and rested a hand on the bag. Pushing some of the fumbled items into the bag until something caught her eye. Grabbing the bag more tightly this time, Mai put the bag on her knees and began to look through it. Her hands finally catching something that didn't seem quite right, something soft. Something smooth, and unnaturally like...

Pulling at the object that was now rested in her fingers, Mai began to pull it out, her heart hammering against her chest and her breathe catching short as she saw what was in her hand.

_Hair_. Was that _Hair_?

Brown perfectly cut hair. A shade of brown that looked abnormally like her _own hair_.

"What...is this?" Mai said in a more breathless tone

"AAhh, Mai-chan, you should already know it's rude to look through someone's toys" a voice said from behind her, making Mai swung around on her knee's to meet his blazing red eyes, this time she saw a numbness, and uncaring manner about the way he looked at her. A way that seemed indifferent about everything. Totally opposite of the Saito she knew. "Now you'll have to be punished..." He said in a breezy sigh

"S-Saito..-san?" Mai whispered, catching herself at the end. This wasn't Saito, this wasn't her friend, or at least, not the one he had played to be. "Why...?"

"Goodnight, Mai-chan" He smiled darkly, ignoring her question.

And suddenly there was a pain at the back of her head, like something had hit her so hard that it had splintered into a million pieces. That was when everything went black, and unconsciousness surrounded her. That was when everything was pieced together, and Saito wasn't the friend, but the killer.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry guys, that was deffinitly the worst chapter I have written yet. I got cocky at the beginning and wanted to get to the ending as fast as I could, but it was actually quite a hard and long chapter to write. I didn't give it nearly enough detail to make it as good as I had imagined it would be. But yes, ahhh yes, good old Saito-kun being the great monstrosity of a character that i have created has showed his true colours finally, and just how equally insane he is to me, lol ;P**

**Please guys, tell me exactly what you didn't like, for me, it was everything. But I'm gonna try and do better **after this chapter, so PLEASE, insult me!!!!!


	11. Case One: Part 6, The Mind of a Killer

**A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews on my last chapter. I **_**honestly **_**thought, and still sorta think, that it was my worst chapter yet. But apparently not since your beautiful reviews says differently, as well as my mommy's complements **** lol. But that's not the point, I'm just glad only one of you actually saw through it and saw that Saito was the killer, and I didn't give it away throughout the story, lol. But yeah, I'm **_**so so sorry **_**that I didn't update sooner, but I have been **_**busy. **_**Like, indredibly busy. But I somehow continued and now hope that I can get my original energy to make more cases to this story later on. So anyway, onwards I must go. Here's part 6. The kinda finale.**

Case One: Strategies in the Schoolyard

Part 6: The Mind of a Killer

"I don't understand...!" a voice yelled questionably, waking up Mai from her slumber "We killed them all, all our friends. We worked _together_, and now that they're all gone. So now I'm going to be killed too?" The voice yelled out louder in distress.

"What did you expect?" another voice entered Mai's hearing, making Mai's eyes open to the endless black floor underneath her. The orbs that surrounded her were her only sign of light, much like most of the dreams that she had. But she couldn't remember anything. When had she fallen asleep? What had happened before she did? Everything drew up blank. "That he would choose two of us?"

Mai finally realised who the two bickering voice's belonged to, even with they're figures not yet visible. It was Kino-san, and Chikako-san. Arguing, apparently. Much like all the dreams started, apparently.

But this one was different, even with Mai's thoughts still mixed up, she could see it. Kino-san sounded as though she... resented what she had done?

"But we're friends. We even killed them. And for what?" Kino-san asked, making Mai realise that she was crying now "We did it for a _guy._"

"We did it for_Yama-kun, _Kino-chan, if you don't remember."

"Yama_moto_ is lying to us. I even heard him saying it!" Kino-san said loudly, trying to make Chikako-san realize the truth. The truth that would never get through to her.

"You're lying…" Chikako-san said darkly, her voice almost numb from the lowness of her tone "your just trying to steal him from me!" She roared, the tension in the room snapping back like an elastic band.

"I'm not!" Kino-san tried to tell her, Mai's fingers beginning to clench and unclench as the tension rose. Kino-san's voice becoming softer as she tried to explain "Our friends. We killed our friends" her voice broke "we have to do what's right. We have to tell someone-"

"NO!" Chikako-san roared, her voice echoing through the blackness. The room finally being shaped and created by the small orbs surrounding her. The pool came into view as the tiles pathed underneath her. And the crystal clear water came into view. Finally coming together to create the face that Mai imagined would be on Chikako-san at that very moment, and the masked horror and slight fear that came across Kino-san's. Kino-san quickly took a step back as Chikako-san walked ominously towards her, a face of pure anger and distraught masking her face "You only want him to yourself! All you want is to keep him to yourself!"

"No!" Kino-san yelped with Mai as Chikako-san lunged herself towards Kino-san. Almost losing her grip on the wet surface below her as her hands came to quickly grasp Kino-san's neck in her flexed fingertips.

"You can't have him. Can't have him!" She repeated to herself almost demonically as she brought Kino-san's form to the tiled floor beneath them. Straddling Kino-san's hips as she flung herself over her. Her hair draping over Kino-san's face as she choked her.

"Stop Chikako-san!" Mai begged blindly as she ran towards her. Her eyes burning as tears threatened to release. Throwing her arms out to catch…nothing? Her small form came running through what the orbs had showed her, and letting her not feel one bit of. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she looked down helplessly at her hands.

"Fuschida-chan" Kino-sans voice came out weakly as her fingers tried to blindly release the hold her _friend _had her in "Stop." She whispered dryly "I…I can't breathe" she choked out.

And, for a mere second, Mai thought she may have saw a flash of emotion come across Chikako-san's eyes. Not anger, not rage. But _helplessness_. The kind that a child shows when they knew they did something wrong, but were determined to continue what they were doing. "I-…I'm sorry Kino-chan. But… But you have to understand!" she rambled "You _will _understand one day. This is what's best!" She went on. Her words tumbling together quickly as she began to lift herself off Kino-san's struggling form, and onto the tiles. Where she began to push her body to where Mai knew it would lead them soon enough. The water.

Kino-san had died of drowning. At least, that's what Bou-san had said. And Mai found herself watching that very seen unfold right before her eyes as Chikako-san pushed Kino-san's neck far enough to drown out her cries in the water. Her voice garbled as she struggled against Chikako-sans grip on her arms and legs. Chikako-san grimaced ever so slightly when Kino-san grazed her nail along the side of her face, but didn't release the hold she had on Kino-san.

Slowly the garbled screeches became more and more quiet, till it finally became obvious that she was dead. Her body so still that it almost made Mai forget what this was. A dream. She couldn't do anything. No matter how badly, how horrifically much, she wanted to help the girl. And that it was inevitable to bring her back.

With tears now scorching down Mai's cheeks, she watched as Chikako-san took one final glance at her victim and pushed the remains into the water. Where her form slowly sank towards the floor of the pool.

"Why?" Mai gasped out, unable to hold in her thoughts "How could you do such a thing to her? To your friend?" But her voice was not heard as Chikako-san watched blindly as the corpse stayed merged underneath the water. Her hair fanning out wildly and covering the frown on Kino-san's face.

And then everything fell into place…

**Day 5, Night**

There was a hum in the air.

A hum of a rhyme that she had heard of when she was very young. One that a few of the school kids in her kindergarten class had sung one day to her, to tease her no less. It was a eerily bizarre little thing that made her arms cover with goose bumps. And the bump on her head that she couldn't remember getting, throb.

The voice hummed.

Her eyes wouldn't budge. Knowing very well that when she did open her eyes, she wouldn't like what she saw. Wouldn't like what she would hear, and what she _knew _would be there. And that something wasn't good.

Her breathe hitched when the voice sharply stopped its humming "Why don't you open your eyes for me Mai-chan?" it asked "I know your awake. So why don't we just make this easier for the both of us and have you open those eyes of yours?"

Her breathe caught in her throat, she kept to staying silent. Fearing _what _would be made easier for the voice.

"No luck?" The voice said as it made a distasteful 'humph' "_Then I guess I'll just have to make you._"

Without a chance to respond, she felt the owner of the voice fist her brown locks and twist it in their hand till they successfully arissed a squeal of pain from her. Successfully bringing her face up to their face, where their lips drawed out warm kisses of air on her cheeks that now flamed.

"That's right" The voice sounded as though it was grinning. And as she opened her eyes, tears warming her face, she realised that they _were _grinning. Satisfactorily, in fact. And it soon came clear to her who was her capture and what had happened.

That was right! _Saito_ had been there at the pool! He had rescued her from Kino-san and Chikako-san when they had tried to drown her. And that was when she noticed the hair in his bag...

Hair.

That was the smell that now scorched her nose. The smell that was foreign to her nose when walking down the halls of her high school. The smell of many different feminist shampoo's that a lot of girls used.

The smell of the hair that now surrounded her.

Her eyes tried to avert looking at Saito's face, by trying instead to scroll down the walls when her breath got caught in her throat.

Surrounding them were long, short, uneven, or loose ends of hair. Strands of hair that she knew belonged to his victims. To Kino Hisako, Fuschida Chikako, Modegi Kinu, and Saeki Ko. The ones had started a war that they had no idea they had started on the day they rejected and possibly humiliated him.

The aroma filled her nose as her eyes stayed transfixed on all the walls where the hair was posted. The cheerful blue paint that coated the walls doing nothing to make the horror any less horrifying.

"Look at me!" He growled, his voice stinging her ears as he tightened his hold on her brown locks once more and thrashed her head forward. Closer to his blazing red orbs "Look at me _now_!"

Mai had no choice but to look. Her better judgement screaming for her to stop as she met his eyes. Eyes of a very insane Saito standing above her. Her brown eyes burned furiously from the sting that was brought on from Saito gripping her hair so tightly. Not loosening his grip in the least.

"Good," He grinned maniacally "very good."

"What do you want?" She choked out, an edge growing in her voice "Haven't you had enough tragedy happen yet?" She hissed, hoping that the fear she felt that was threatening to spill out, wasn't visible in her voice.

She had to stay strong.

She knew the danger she was in, and hoped that the boundaries she had set for herself would amount to something. If not, her life was more in danger than just being harmed.

"Tragedy?" Saito snorted "_What _tragedy? I was merely doing what everyone wanted me to do." He hissed "They weren't people, they were an eyesore."

"An _eyesore_?" Mai repeated, anger now creeping into her voice "_What _eyesore? Sure, they weren't the nicest of people, but what did that mean? It meant that you went and _killed them _because you felt it did justice?"

"It wasn't a _feeling, _Mai-chan. It was merely the fact at hand. They were trash that needed to be taken care of." Mai slowly crept away on the back of her heels as he continued "A group of people that only hurt others. Never cared for anyone else."

"And what makes you any different?" She questioned him, feeling the grasp of hair that he held loosen "If they thought you were an eyesore, would that give them the right to kill you?"

Saito growled in frustration "It was their fault!" he shuddered with anger "They were the ones that made me this way!"

"'_Made you this way_', what do you mean? Weren't _you_ the one that permanently changed them?" Mai yelled fiercely, her body shaking in a similar rhythm of rage. Rage towards him "They'll never be the same. They're friendships over and their _dead_, Saito" Mai said as she scooted away from him, his grip now loose enough to move away.

Saito's hand fell to his side as he shook his head at her "I thought you would understand", Mai. I thought you were the only one who would. But in the end, it all ends the same way"

Mai shuddered as she finally stood up from the bed that she realised she had been unconscious on. "What do you mean?" Mai whispered, tremors of fear overlapping the rage she had felt moments before. He was going to kill her.

_No! _Her thoughts raged _He's going to __**try **__and kill you_

"It could have ended fine. If Chikako-chan had just said 'yes'" he whispered, a cool edge to his voice as though he were thinking of a pleasant dream. Or nightmare. "But instead they all made a mockery of me!" he growled, his jaw setting in place "I knew _everything _about her. I knew _how she_ _laughed, how she ate, what her favourite music was. _Everything. Yet she turned me down flat, and laughed at my face. _Everyone _did. Saying it was charity work if she had ever agreed." He sniffed. "But I made them regret it"

"How?" Mai whispered soothingly, her voice failing her quickly, but Saito didn't seem to notice. He was too far gone.

"It was simple, Mai-chan." He whispered as Mai realised something. Realised she had her cell phone in her back pocket. Her head screamed for her to not do it. The chances were all against her. The girl with the cell phone always failed. Didn't make it in time to get a word out to the person on the other end. But if the ring in her phone was low enough... muffled by her hands that clamped over it behind her back. "All I needed to do was change. Change my appearance to make them not recognise me, yet regret the mistake they made by turning me down. By making a mockery out of me." Guiding her thumb along the thin layer of numbers, she pressed on one of the numbers that she hoped was Ayako's speed dial number. A small vibration erupt from the voice box but was low enough to not notice with her thumb over it.

"It was all so _easy. _I would have never suspected that they had found me out if they hadn't started acting so blindly in front of me." The vibrations ceased and Mai knew that someone on the other end had picked up. Picked up and was now hearing what was happening.

"So you played the role of...-" cutting her off, he said in a pleased tone "-Nakamura Shouta, the new student that needed help around the school."

"Help that you planned would tear they're friendship apart" Mai whispered as she slipped blindly towards what she hoped was the door in an effort to escape

"So I started to date them. All four of them. To make them feel what it's like to _want_. How it feels to have to _fight _for something."

Mai could now feel that the vibrations had ended and hoped that the Ayako had realised what situation she was in, and was listening to find any clue to find her whereabouts. Then, hopefully alerting the police.

Removing the tips of her fingers from the phone, she pushed the phone into her back pocket with her back to the door as she moved slowly and cautiously towards the door.

"But your family," Mai's lips parted "how could you do this, how can you go on knowing that you are the main reason for their death?" Mai whispered, knowing far too well that if she had been the actual cause of her family's death she wouldn't be here right now. She couldn't bear it. Bear to look in the mirror every morning and see the face of they're killer.

And yet, Saito never seemed to have that occur to him. In fact, he seemed quite pleased with looking at himself.

But something unsuspecting occurred then. He _laughed_. A laugh with pure humour and nothing more, that made a shiver twist down her spine. And her ears ring more than they did right then.

"'How could you do this?' 'They're death'?" He snorted hysterically "Mai-chan, has it not yet occurred to you that I told Fuschida-chan to do this for me?"

Mai froze in place, unable to _not _do so. How could she keep moving when someone had actually _admitted _to killing his parents? "B-...But _why_?" she choked "They're your _family_! How could they still be doing your bidding after what you've done to them?"

He merely smiled at her pitifully with a sheer look of insane pleasure in his eyes. Pleasure at telling his "master plan."

"But, Mai-chan" he whispered as he took half a step across with no difficulties and stood nose to nose in front of her "We'll _always _be together this way. It's just another dream that I have fulfilled for them. And all they have to do is do the same for me"

"But _why _your _family_?" She choked on the word itself "_How could you?_"

"Mai-chan, Mai-chan, Mai-chan. Family's only hold you back. Always look down on you on the side, and load boundaries onto you. Now, there _are_ nolimits" he whispered huskily as she felt him take in a breath of her in a huff. And that's when she saw it. Saw the large knife that fit in Saito's palm as he leaned down to her ear, "I thought you would understand me, Mai-chan." He had whispered "I thought you more than anyone else would, after being looked at as different. As the girl that's a-"

"Stop it!" Mai screamed. Not in fear or anger, but out of the word that he was about to use. An "orphan." She had heard it plenty of times from others, but never in a term that would describe her as similar to a murderer of his own family and 4 innocent and naive girls that only wanted to be loved.

"So you did kill them, Yamato-san." She heard a voice rumble from behind her. Not even aware until she looked behind her of the presence that had been pressed behind her form since who knows when. "Naru," Mai whispered as tears welled up in her eyes and she looked up at Naru with such gratefulness that it was impossible to sum up in words "Gene" She whispered seconds later as she saw him standing by his brother's side. Not even blinking at her, they're eyes blazed an ice blue flame as they stared Saito down. Only showing a little bit of awareness to her existence when Naru, not removing his eyes from Saito's figure, pushed her behind Gene and himself.

"When did you figure it out?" Saito peered at the pair, his expression now turning solemn "Figure out that I had killed them."

Naru was silent as Gene spoke for him "When we looked at the dates of your arrival and departure at each school"

"You were in this school until last year, when summer break came you never returned to it again,"

Gene went on for Naru "Then suddenly a new student, Shouto Yamoto, came into the picture when the term started up. The break giving you enough time to plan your actions and prepare yourself."

"Leaving when all the girls were dead and when winter holidays started. Knowing no one suspected you of the cause of their death." Naru paused as Saito took a step towards them, "Entering our school when holidays ended and a new term began. Intending to get away with it..."

"Is that it?" Saito snorted as the blade of the knife that had been cased in his palm became visible as it was directed towards them. "The great Oliver and Eugene Davis accuse me of being the cause of 4 girls deaths, without any assumptions other than time of my arrival?" he grinned darkly "That seems highly unlikely to satisfy the police, doesn't it?"

Mai watched the scene ahead with wide eyes as the knife was shifted from one hand to the other as Saito grew closer. Knowing that if they _were _to escape this alive, they would be hurt. And she knew it was unlikely that they had any protection other than they're strength that could be thought of as a weapon; since it seemed obvious to her that Naru and Gene would carry nothing that was visibly dangerous around. But as she thought to herself _How are we going to make it out of here alive? _She watched Naru and Gene's faces. They're jaws were set in stone, with no visible panic in their eyes or body structure. Which didn't seem right because, at the moment, she was _terrified_. Terrified for herself and her friends, and the fact that she may not do all the things she wanted in the future. Whatever they were. And that _terrified _her immensely, alone with the fact that she may die when he comes at them with the knife. Yet here was Naru and Gene, calmly staring ahead at four girls _killer_, like it was nothing that big as he watched them with a knife in his hand, and ready to use it at any second.

"What happened to Chikako-san?" She heard herself say in a voice that she couldn't at first recognize as her own; the world freezing into place as the seconds ticked by. Already knowing the answer.

"I killed her." His voice entered her ears satisfactorily

"How?" She said numbly, wanting to know how you could do that to someone, make _them _do it to another person, but also not wanting to know about any of it at all either.

He cleared his throat, as though he were ready to tell a long story, when it would end fast. "After drowning Kino-chan, she came to me. Believing that I would greet her with open arms." He snorted, his eyes growing light in a dark type of amusement, "I told her that 'This isn't charity work'" He laughed darkly "Her face was so amusing. A horrified look came across her face when she finally realised who I was, and what I had her do." The scene began to play out before her very eyes, Chikako-san running to Saito after killing Hisako-san to have reassurance of what she had just done. Of what she had done to _all _of her friends, only to realise what he had done to _her_. How he had turned them all against one another to get back at her for a 'joke' that had happened in their freshmen year. He had lied and cheated her, _all of them_, and it had cost both their friendship and lives. "I guess it goes to show that love isn't all that you girls make it up to be." He grinned darkly, no humour of notice in it. Only darkness.

Anger stormed in every corner of her body at the fact that he had ended their lives over such a petty and inhuman reason. No human being should be able to choose whether someone should live or die. No one. And yet he had done it anyway. And as if she wasn't even there anymore, in her body, she took a step forward. A step away from Naru and Gene's protection, and a step towards a blade that looked like it could easily pierce her right that second. "It wasn't love," She said in a heated voice as she took another step towards Saito, who looked as much off guard as Gene and Naru did, "you tricked them, tricked their pure feelings to get what you wanted." Saito stepped back now, the knife dangling in his clutch, head facing towards the floor. "Really, _your_ the fool Saito."

And suddenly, as if a switch had been hit, it seemed clear what Saito was about to do as he rose his knife in the air with it clutched now tightly in his grip and froze it in midair with the intention of it coming at Mai. His eyes now sustaining an even madder look than before, as his blazed orbs bared all the thoughts of what he intended to do to her when the knife struck her.

But then, just as suddenly as the knife had rose in the air and Saito's intentions became clear, everything froze. The world that had once been spinning in Mai's eyes and ringing in her ears, stopped. And then, just as she began to realise what was happening, and how the world around her had seemingly became slower, she heard a voice. A whisper, almost, that made her mentally lean forward to hear it better. A voice that was hushed into her brain and told her something. Told her to close her eyes, and put her hands over ears, and become numb to the world around her. And she knew that if she messed up this time, it would be the last time she did. And just as suddenly as everything had happened and she had taken the step towards Saito, and he rose the knife for her to meet her end; her body moved on its own. Suddenly, she had her eyes closed and her hands fisting over her ears. Now the world seemed even more far gone to her. But as she waited in silence and in darkness, for whatever was going to happen, a sudden chill ran up her spine and goose bumps began to cover her arms. And all of a sudden, she didn't _want _to know what was happening. Because she knew it was horrifying. She wasn't dead, not yet, but how could she be sure that what was happening right now, all around her, wouldn't lead to that?

Almost as though someone had heard her fearful thoughts, the chills stopped just as fast as the hairs at the back of her neck began to lower themselves to their usual placements. And an overwhelming heat flared over her, and warmed her bare shoulders. Someone else's warm skin making contact with hers as she felt tips of fingers pry at hers, that continued to shelter her ears from the sound that she didn't want to here. Her eyes sealed shut with the sheer fear of what she could possibly see. Until she heard a small muffled voice say something near her ear. It was too unrecognisable to quite understand what they were saying, but she quickly recognized the delicateness of the tone as Gene's voice, and felt it in the pit of her gut and released the barrier over her ears. Gasping as relief flooded through her whole form and Gene came into view "Thank Kami-sama..." she whispered breathlessly as her legs buckled under her and she fell into someone's arms.

Apparently the arms belonged to Naru, because when she looked up all she could manage to see was the shaky arms that were clad in black, holding her up. Finally, the arms brought her down lightly to the floor below her where she sat breathlessly as Naru caught his own breath.

"What happened-?" she started, only to be cut off by Gene's figure that she quickly noticed was covering something "And where is Saito?" she said again. Looking around until she realised then what had happened. And how that thing, the body that Gene was covering, was actually...

"No..!" she gasped, her legs shaking uncontrollably now as she began to stand on her own through Gene's silent protests and Naru's still form. "You didn't... you couldn't have...?" she said, horrified "I-I mean, he killed them...b-but..." but it was already too late, she quickly realised. He was gone. And as Mai neared the form that she saw on the ground now and Gene held her back, she realised that there was nothing they could have changed. He had come at them with a knife. And as much as she didn't want to believe it, the girl's spirits that he had killed would have probably helped. Making it almost effortless to kill them.

And, for what Mai knew, Gene and Naru hadn't even touched him, and yet, how was he now dead?

"Mai, you need to sit down. After all this, you need to...-" But he didn't finish, because before he could Mai's tears became of notice to him. Long streams streaming down her cheeks as small sniffles escaped her closed lips, much to her dismay. "You couldn't have done anything, Mai." He continued, "He was going to kill you, and..."

"I know." She said numbly as the tears continued to spill, Naru's breathe as shallow as hers now "But, I can't help but think it's my fault." She had instigated him, lead him on. She could have dealt with the situation better and she didn't. Instead the rage at what he had done, and what his actions had led to in the cause of Masako had been too much for her. And she had let her emotions get the best of her. Now Masako was still in a coma, 4 girls still weren't at rest, and they had a body on their hands that may bring the police to put them all in jail.

That's when voices broke through the distance and she recognized a few of them. Bou-san and Lin-san's voices pounded in her ears. Her heart thundered loudly in her chest as she stared at the corner of Gene's shoulder. His shirt wasn't black like Naru's today, she noticed, instead, she assumed it to be an undershirt that was hidden under both they're black tops. But as she stared at it more, now blind to the sound of Bou-san or Lin's pounding steps, she realised that it was wet. Soaked through till it was slick against his chest. Sweat rolling down his whole body, she realised. Had they both been looking for her since Saito had kidnapped her? "I'm sorry" She whispered, somehow knowing that they both heard her even though she could barely hear herself over the pounding in her ears "I got you to do this, and now you're going to get in trouble and-" and as the tears continued to roll and she felt an uncertain ramble of apologies begin to slip out, she heard Naru speak for the very first time since he had walked into this room. And, as he said it, everything set in. And everything became clear once again. The oddly familiar dream feel to the nightmare that they were in now slipping away as reality set in. Masako in a coma; Saito dead; Gene and Naru now possible murder candidates because of _herself_. Her legs buckled once again and she fell quickly into the waiting arms of Bou-san who quickly picked her up in his arms and began to carry her to the door. The world began to spin, and suddenly, she realised that none of this was going to be the same again...

"Mai," Naru's voice whipped in her ringing ears as Naru quickly ordered Bou-san to 'get her out of here' and she was brought towards the door "Shut up." Making her quickly do as he say in distress. She only hoped that her shutting up would solve more than the annoyance in Naru's eyes...

**A/N: Well, that was a terrible chapter, lol. I'm just sorry that I had to make you guys wait for so long, only to get this terrible thing. Well, there's only 1 more chapter to go and that's the Epilogue so I hope I can start and finish it soon. So, yeah. Please review and tell me how bad I did. An honest review on how you feel. Also, if there's any corrections or things that you think I should add more in this chapter then please message me, or just tell me in your review to make it easier. I want all my readers to be happy ****. Thanks readers :D **


	12. Case One: Part 7, Epilogue

**A/N: Thanks everyone, once again, for your reviews and comments on the awful story that I am writing. Well, this is the final chapter to my very first case, so I can only hope that it ends the way that you like it. Well, here you go **

Case One: Strategies in the Schoolyard

Part 7: Epilogue

"It just doesn't make any sense" Mai had heard an officer say as she was checked over by the medical staff. Checking to make sure that she didn't have a concussion from the hit from behind that one of the girls had given Mai when she had her eyes on Saito. "There is no logical reason to why the guy is dead. He didn't have a scratch on him, and if he had a heart attack it wouldn't make any sense since he is perfectly healthy." He continued, his partner by his side as they looked over they're matching pads of notes.

"Some just don't make sense." The officer at his side said "Like my sisters ex boyfriend. He was gone for no apparent reason, completely healthy with no medical problems and up and died one day in his apartment."

The truth was, there really wasn't any logical reason for the death of Saito. She had been there and knew that first hand, it had been supernatural. And Naru and Gene had been the cause of it.

Still, even if they were killers, she couldn't possibly hate them for it. They had saved her life somehow, even at the cost of their apparent friend and member of their team. She knew that they wouldn't go and kill him for no reason. So as they said that there was no real logical explanation for the whole thing, she couldn't quite help the wave of relief that came across her.

Slowly, minutes turned into an hour and the hour turned into two hours, and soon, she finally saw Gene and Naru's figures. Walking towards her through the mass of kayos that surrounded them as though the world had suddenly slowed down, and they were the only normal things around. But by the apparent things that were happening around them, it became obvious that they were far from normal. When they reached her she was met by Lin who hung by their sides, and brought towards their car where she was quickly brought to her school and into the office that they had been working in to deal with the case. Left in Ayako's sobbing arms. Her body quivering as ripples of fear shook through her body off of Ayako's. Making it hard for Mai to really settle her head on Ayako's shoulder like she wanted to with all the shaking. "Thank Kami-sama..." she heard Ayako sob into Mai's hair in a quivering voice, "I thought I lost you, Mai. Never do that again!" She whispered, her voice breaking when she looked at Mai's face.

"I'm sorry." Mai croaked "All I was trying to do was have a break like Gene said, and I found this ghost, and...-"

"Ghost?" Bou-san's voice broke through the silence that had come through the room since Mai and Ayako's reuniting, "What ghost?"

"Well...-" Mai started, noticing that the rooms eyes hadn't just landed on her now, but had been on her ever since she had entered the room. "Ever since I left this office, it's been terrible." Mai said dryly, her throat parched from the weeps that had begun to arise from herself too. "I left the office, but I heard this noise. It was like it was following me, these weird footsteps." She said, recalling the feeling that made her feel like she was being followed by this sound. Or chased. "And I realised that the footsteps were actually coming from the pool. And being a part of the student council I _had _to make sure no one was in there after hours."

"So that's when you found Saito-san?" John cut in, his voice low enough to make her have to lean in to hear him.

"No," Mai interjected him "That was when I met _Hisako-chan_ for the first time." She swallowed, recalling the body floating at the center of the pool.

"Hisako-...Chan?" Ayako broke in, her voice starting to not sound as shaky "Isn't that one of the girls that you said was dead?" She questioned.

Everyone was silent, waiting for her to continue on about what had occurred. "Hisako-chan told me what we all knew, that Fuschida Chikako-san had killed her." She said numbly, confirming they're thought's.

"And then what happened?" Naru said in his usual monotone voice, not hesitating to hear the details.

"Then I was dragged under. With Hisako-chan, and Fuschida-san holding me under both ways." She shivered, John's mouth hung open in horror similar to Ayako's, Bou-san had a look of disgust at what had occurred on his face, and the rest of the room hung silent. Not saying a word. "All I remember was that I was dieing." She choked suddenly, her eyes starting to well up with tears that she would not release as realisation dawned on her that she had died almost twice today. That was a new record for sure. "-That's when I saw Saito-san." She stopped, her throat aching.

"Mai, you don't have to go on." Ayako whispered in Mai's ear as she hung over her shoulder in motherly support.

She shook her head in protest "He pulled me out and dragged me to where his bag was. We were fine for a few minutes, but when he went to grab us towels, that's when I noticed the...-"

"The?" Ryuu erged her to continue. That was such a guy thing to do. Make the girl that was crying continue why don't you?

"The hair." She stopped short at the sudden look of horror that flashed through everyone's eyes, "Hair was stuffed in his bag, and... it resembled mine so I thought..." She sighed in exhaustion. "And then I turned around, and he was there in front of me, with this... with this weird look in his eyes." She swallowed hard, the memory forming in front of her eyes once again.

"Mai-chan, you don't need to go on. I'm sure it's a very unpleasant thing to remember." Gene said with a sudden pause, him and Naru meeting eyes so suddenly that you could almost see sparks. Sometimes, it seemed as though you could cut the air with how tense it was in the moments that they objected to one another's idea's. "And something that you don't want to recall so suddenly after such a short time span."

"Oh! No, don't worry" she tried to smile "I'll be okay, I know that you need to know the details in order to get things sorted out." Whatever those things_ were_. "After that...well, I can't exactly remember." She confessed, "Everything went dark suddenly."

"It must have been the spirits. They have a very aggressive air about them" Ryuu breathed in with a sigh.

"So they knocked her unconscious?" Ayako yelled in outrage, her face growing as red as her locks of hair with rage.

"Matsuzaki-san, it would be best if you would stop yelling." Naru cut in, his usual arrogance prevailing even on her own teacher who quickly shut up. "But you did get hit hard Mai. I noticed that a bump was already forming in the car." He said, making her unsure if he actually cared or was just pointing out the obvious.

"I'm fine, I was checked out by the paramedics and they said that I didn't have a concussion or anything." She smiled lightly, noticing that her head actually really _did _hurt.

"Did they say that you should get more checked out?" Gene cut in. Being as fast as Naru and catching on to what she hadn't actually told them yet.

"They _did _say that I should get checked out more." She admitted sheepishly as everyone stared at her worriedly "But Ayako's the daughter of a doctor! So I was sure that she could take care of it." She lied. She hadn't even thought about Ayako's medical profession. But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was to find out what she had missed in her absence without anyone scolding her for her uncertainty of her safety.

Everyone watched her worriedly when she quickly stopped speaking. Their eyes on the swollen bump at the top of her head that Ayako released her horror at when she gasped at the sight.

"Mai! Come here." She ordered, quickly dragging Mai to the loveseat that Bou-san and John quickly got off from as she came over. "Sit down." She ordered again as she pushed Mai's shoulders downwards, Mai following command obediently since she was scared what she would have to face if Ayako got angry. Ayako quickly took charge as Mai seated herself on the seat and looked into her eyes wearily which were storming with thoughts. Grabbing at the back of Mai's head gently and moving it so she could see Mai's injury.

"I'm fine, really." She repeated uselessly as Ayako continued her handy work at the back of her scalp.

"Just continue where you left off." Naru said gruffly, his eyes deep with concentration.

"O-Oh, okay...Where was I again?" she muttered to herself cluelessly, feeling stupid that she couldn't even remember where she had left off in her story.

"The pool, everything went black...?" John answered her questionably.

"Oh, yeah." Mai said slowly, remembering "After everything went black, I had this dream. Where Kino-san and Chikako-san were arguing, and Kino-san was against what they were doing."

"Against?" Naru said quietly, hand to his chin in a thoughtful manner

"Yeah. I was trying to stay focused to what was going on, but I couldn't really with me not knowing how I fell asleep, or...-" she sighed "well..." And so she continued, telling them about her dream and Kino-san's death, and how she woke up and realised who Saito really was. The girls killer. Finally getting to how she came up with an escape idea when she realised that she had her phone with her, and Ayako's number on speed dial.

"That's how we found you." Bou-san cut in suddenly as Ayako made a few more side notes about Mai's head. "The old women came in suddenly and asked where you were because she thought someone had broken into the pool, or someone with the keys had opened up the door and hadn't locked it-" there was a sudden _smack_ in the silence and it took Mai several seconds to really notice why Bou-san has stopped speaking mid sentence until she recognized the red hand print that had started to swell at the side of his jaw.

"So I assumed that you were the only student council member who would stay this late at night and came to see if you were the one that had left it unlocked by mistake." Ayako continued for Bou-san, her face subconsciously growing more gleeful with the satisfactory of hitting Bou-san back for his comment about "Being an old lady", which, obviously, she had angrily tookin to heart. Bou-san muttered curses under his breath as she continued "I went here because I knew that this would be the only thing keeping you after hours, and came to find out that you weren't here."

"That's when her phone rang" John went on, frowning slightly in distaste to what had happened "And Mai-san's voice was on the other end."

Bou-san crept in quickly, rubbing his cheek thorough and vigorously as he gave a glare in Ayako's direction "We recognised the voice easily, and Naru-chan and Gene put the pieces together and realised who Yamoto really was."

"I know the voice is an easy give away, but what made you realise that it was Saito-san..?" Mai murmured questionably, her curiosity peaking.

"We had theories that he wasn't who he said he was." Gene said slowly

"He came late in the second semester suddenly, and caught Yamada-san's attention." Naru murmured, his eyes glistening with a memory.

Ryuu walked forward, leaning against the sofa's arm chair and looked at her. His eyes as deep as the night sky "There was something..._off _about him." He said in his deep voice, gruff from disuse "And then I noticed the spirits that were attached to him..."

"Chikako-san and the others..." Mai whispered under her breath. They had followed him even after their deaths. They didn't have any regrets after what he had done to them... At least Chikako-san didn't.

Ryuu nodded, clearing his throat "I didn't think much of it later on though. Because it became so natural to see spirits attached to _anyone_. I just thought that they may have been ex girlfriends. Maybe an accident had claimed them and that was how they're relationships ended." He grumbled "Now I see how stupid I was, it was obvious that there was something off about him, and I didn't want to admit it because I didn't want anymore trouble to have to deal with."

"It's only natural, Yamada-kun." John smiled lightly, trying to make light of the situation "Sometimes it just doesn't occur to some."

"_Yes_." He said soberly "But not _me_. I saw the way girls looked at him. Like the way they looked at us; and assumed that he was just someone who dated plenty and... something just happened to the girls randomly that were attached to him..."

"It's not your fault." Mai said suddenly, shocking herself with the overwhelming pity that she suddenly felt for him. He was lying to himself because he had been scared. Scared about what his new "somewhat" friend would think when he told him that he was haunted by 4 female ghosts. Just like she had been scared for almost half a week about what was happening to her. And how she suddenly knew things and saw deaths unfold in her dreams. Wouldn't she sound crazy? Insane? About what she was seeing. She didn't want to except any of that, and in the course of a few days, began to make up logical reasons for it, or told herself it wasn't real, when, in fact, it had actually occurred. The truth was, she was seeing the living become the dead. "You had no idea that that would happen, and no one _blames _you." She said slowly, checking for the correct wording for the situation.

He looked at her this time. _Really _looked at her, with an expression that she couldn't quite decipher. But made her realise that she had said all the right things. "Everyone makes mistakes." Bou-san cut in, grinning "Just look at Naru-chan, and how many mistakes he makes."

Everyone laughed. Well... except for Naru. Really, he rather grumbled something under his breath and walked towards his desk. Lin and Ryuu didn't laugh either, but she did fully see the small smiles on their faces this time, so she was brought to ease that they had had some affect on Ryuu's mood.

And that's when she found herself grinning. A _real _grin. And she realised how hard her face had felt since Masako's accident. And how cold her insides had felt. And suddenly a growing warmth spread throughout her body, and her insides tingled with butterflies. Because it was over. Almost over, at least. Naru and Gene were most likely not going to be blamed for Saito's death because there was no way to prove that they had harmed him. And the Chikako-san and the others spirits were most likely going to be laid to rest finally. At least after the school had a proper exorcism, and the building was purified.

_Little did she know that there was so much more to it than that._

**Day 6, Later in the Evening**

She was warm, engulfed in silence at last. A dreamless and restful sleep that she could say she had missed plenty of. Her thoughts were silent as she stood in a surrounding blackness.

Very much similar to where she usually found her mind settling into when she was unconscious. Her body stood frozen, watching the calming darkness become brighter and brighter, right before her very eyes. And, suddenly, figures began to appear in front of her now weary but calm eyes.

Kino Hisako, Fuschida Chikako, Modegi Kinu, and Saeki Ko stood in front of her now, their eyes glazed over as they watched the darkness fade away in the ultimate light. Pure and breathlessly warm, inviting even herself to run into the arms of whoever was up ahead. But instead of just a light, as Mai saw it, the others saw something beyond it. Names were whispered in utter pleasant joy. Names of Grandparents, parents, or any sort of relatives were whispered as they began to joylessly walk towards the light in happiness. Their arms snagged together as they walked as friends. Even after what they had done to one another, they had forgiven, and as they walked ahead, Mai saw that they had forgotten too...

Then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they disappeared into the brightness ahead. Their steps sure and powerful and...peaceful...

Mai's eyes burned as she watched ahead, tears slipping down her cheeks at the scene. The warmth just as warm, hugging her body.

"_Your going to regret now for __**sure**_" she almost thought she heard someone whisper grudgingly. Turning around slowly she saw-

"_**Mai" **_She heard someone whisper by her ear, bringing her all too suddenly to the present.

She was in the office where she had last remembered she had been. Lying uncomfortably on one of the cushions that had been placed under her after she fell asleep. Her head positioned almost as terribly as her sleeping position.

"Mai..." She heard someone whisper once more, all too gentle and comforting. Recognizing the voice as...Naru's?

No. That couldn't be right. Naru? Gentle? That wouldn't even happen even _if _hell froze over. He was Naru, the narcisstic. Gentle wasn't in his vocabulary.

Ignoring his voice, she tried to act as normal as a sleeping person _could _be. Grumbling nothings under her breath incoherently and she turned onto her back so she wouldn't have to deal with whatever Naru wanted. Probably a cup of tea, or either to ask her more questions about the case. She didn't have any answers, and didn't have the energy to make tea. She didn't even have enough energy to open her eye lids. She just wanted to go and slip unconscious again, back into that peaceful dream. What was it again? Oh, yes... the _light_.

She felt his hand touch her cheek. Catching her off guard almost enough to make her respond to the burning sensation that followed the back of his hand as he moved down her jaw line. Why was Naru touching her? Was something wrong with her face? Had the spirits tookin half her face off with that earlier hit? She hadn't gotten the chance to really look at herself in the mirror since the paramedics checked her out, so she wouldn't know. But she hadn't noticed any grossed out faces while she was walking around. So _why was he touching her this way to make her stomach do back flips?_

He stopped at the end of her jaw line, only to caress the crease at the croak of her throat with the tips of his fingers. Sliding along her cheek till it reached her lips where his fingers traced them. Fire running along all the base lines that he touched. Her heart pounding in her throat and her body heating up like the Fourth of July. His fingers stopped. Her whole body going rigged with the sudden freeze in time. Every breathe she took making it more and more difficult to not gasp and try to breath normally. Just as suddenly as everything had begun and stopped, she found air batting her face. The tips of her bangs tickling her face enough to make her want to swipe them away. But she could feel it. Feel his presence. And the more that she recognized it there, the more it seemed to be drawing closer with the small shallow breaths that she felt Naru breath out as he came closer and closer to her face. Their lips-

"Oi, Naru." She heard someone cut through the silence. The breath left her face, and the loss of contact overwhelmed her. Bou-san had entered the room...

Someone shushed him and she recognised the person to be John. Being quiet John, she knew he was embarrassed to tell someone to shush so abruptly. But, at the moment, she wished that she could have done _much _more than shush him...

"Oh." Bou-san said quietly, realisation that she was "sleeping" dawning on him. "I just needed to know what you have packed yet so I can start putting it away." He said.

The rest of the conversation she tuned out. Trying to figure out what had just happened? And why was she feeling so... so... discouraged that it hadn't ended in a certain way? Why did she feel so utterly horrible at the same time? She didn't understand as her heart continued to beat a mile a minute, and she tried to quiet it, and why her gut felt so queasy.

And as much as she couldn't believe it, she fell asleep with these thoughts continuing in her head...

"Mai-chan!" Masako ran towards her, her pale form almost transparent in the darkness as she leaped into Mai's waiting hug. Tears running down both their faces just as similarly as Masako had appeared to Mai in the classroom.

"Are you really here?" Mai whispered into Masako's shoulder as they sniffled tears of joy, "I mean, you can't be-" she started, but failed to continue because the word died on her toung just as fast as Masako answered her

"No!" She laughed, smiling delicately as she wiped her tears on the sleeve of her uniform. Very un-ladylike for Masako, Mai realised. "I'm not dead. I just...I'm not sure..." She whispered, trying to come up with the correct way to put it "I'm _here_ but... but something's different. I feel like my mind is clearing. Like everything is becoming sharper, and I can think, and..." she mumbled on, failing to know what else to say.

"Maybe...Could it...-Could it be that your waking up...?" Mai whispered, unable to keep the pure hope out of her voice "I...I mean, Saito's gone. He's dead...- Maybe... maybe he was just holding you back from doing so?" she whispered. It seemed to make sense, he had been the one threatening both her, Masako, and the teams life. He had been the one to push her down the stairs. That must have been it. All along, he had been the one holding her back from opening her eyes.

They cried once again, rejoicing in the hope that maybe they were correct. Maybe she _was _waking up...? If that were true, Mai couldn't even put into words how joyful she felt.

With much needed effort they finally moved out of each other's arms and looked at each other, their eyes glistening from the tears that continued to fall. "I'll...I'll see you soon then, Mai-chan." Masako smiled, her tears rolling down her pale cheeks as Mai's consciousness began to come.

"Yes." Mai grinned "Yes, of course! Definitely..."

**Later, 8:51 p.m**

"Did you have a good dream, Mai-chan?" She heard someone whisper, smiling; arising her to open her eyes. Her eyelids fluttering open, she looked up at the voice that was near her face.

Gene's face was raised directly above hers, looking down at her with warm eyes and a small smile as she moved her head off his shoulder where she had been sleeping, and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Blinking away the sleepiness, and, as much as she didn't want Gene or anyone else to know, leftover tears from the dream she had just had. Looking around awkwardly, Gene watched her with amused eyes as she tried to remember where she was. Or at least recognize it.

Finally beginning to give up, she realised where they were. They were moving. To be more specific, moving in their van where they often placed their equipment and storage. Or at least that was what she had guessed when she had first saw Bou-san struggling with the computer monitors up the stairs of her high school. Lin was lodged in the driver's seat with his back to her and eyes on the road while Naru sat in the passenger seat with his gaze now lowered onto her.

"I'm sorry," she started, with her mind groggy to what was happening and her head throbbing making it even more difficult."I fell asleep. How long have I been out?" She asked, stating the obvious right away. Knowing Naru would make a cocky remark about it later on. She just hoped she hadn't drooled on Gene's shirt or something when she was unconscious.

"Almost 4 hours." Gene answered her, his gaze resting on her head "You must have been really tired. How's your head?"

"Oh" Mai said, not really expecting the question to come so suddenly "I'm fine. A little sore, but I'll live." She smiled

"Matsuzaki-san said that it would be best if you'd go to the hospital and get it checked out." He went on, ignoring what she said "You may not have a concussion, but you may have something else damaged."

"I'm sure they would have noticed if it was that bad." Mai cut in "Besides, if I put ice on it, it'll be okay" she smiled again. It still didn't seem to fool him.

"I'm not-"

"Mai" Naru cut off his brother. Looking at Mai now in a way that made her think that he was about to say something important. But... "You can get out now."

"Get out?" Mai repeated dumbly. Was he kicking her out of the car because he knew that she knew what he was about to do in the office? Then again, she _actually_ didn't know what had happened in the first place.

"Yes." He said, his face set in stone "Or do you not even know where you live?" he questioned her in a smartass way.

"Oh!" Mai gasped, sliding half way down the seat to look out the large van window, and, sure enough, there it was. Her small apartment, number 521 among a series of other homes in the little lot. It was late, so most of the children's bedroom lights were off, while her neighbours lay awake doing their daily routine. "My _house." _she said, feeling just as stupid as she sounded.

Pulling the van doors open, she jumped down from the somewhat high van and took a double step when she did so. Losing her footing as soon as she came into contact with the ground below her. Walking towards the passenger side window, she looked through the glass at Naru, who quickly returned her gaze and slid the window down so he could hear her.

"How did you know where I lived?" She peered at him through slitted suspicious eyes. Was he following her or something?

"I heard it from the principal." He answered dully. Oh yeah, Naru had better time than stalking a teenage girl like herself around at night. Well, a girl can hope, right? "Any more questions?" he asked numbly, breaking through her thoughts. Irritation obvious in his voice.

"Oh. No." She said lamely. Quickly glaring at him. But, inside, she felt something. Maybe the pull of her heart strings, because all of a sudden she couldn't hate him. It came to her as quickly as everything else did, a punch in the gut. Would she ever see him, Gene, Lin, or the others again? She had been there in repayment, to pay a debt as the school's student council member back to them after he suddenly agreed to helping her school. She had hated him at first. But, now, everything began to ach. Because, really, she wanted to know more about them. She had grown so close to them that it almost felt like they had known each other since the beginning. But now, it seemed like they were being pulled apart after meeting again in such a long time. Like she was losing them...

Silence suddenly came over them all, with her heart caught in her throat, she looked at Gene and Naru. Her eyes becoming moist, and her throat growing dry. Her cheeks flamed.

The cars ignition rumbled and grunted as the seconds ticked by and she knew that she had to leave or she would look like a real idiot. Starting to turn around, tears threatening to release, she began to walk towards the stairs that she had to take to reach her door. Only to be stopped by Naru's voice. Turning once again, she looked at him, _really _looked at him, and saw him wave something with his hand. Taking a few steps forward, she saw that it was a card. Lodged in between his index finger and thumb, he reached over to her. Taking it, she squinted at the small print on the card. Some of the writing in both English and Japanese. She didn't speak English.

"What is this-?"

"You still owe me." He said, his eyes dark enough for it to be hard to see his pupils. His face hidden under the clouds that covered the moon, making it impossible to read his expression. Not that he'd ever make it easy to do so in the first place.

"Sorry?" Mai questioned, unsure of what to make out of what he had just said.

"You owe me for all of this. I believe that it is only proper that you say yes to assisting me with more cases." He said numbly, not waiting for an answer as he clicked the button for the window to go up. "Be at that location at 9 a.m tomorrow. And don't be late." With his window now all the way up she knew that there was no way she could resign from the offer... or, rather, order.

Outside she put on an irritated face and gave a grudging glare at the vehicle as it started along the street, inside she was screaming with joy. She'd see them again. Better yet, she'd see them _tomorrow_. She wasn't sure if she'd regret it later on or just continue to feel as happy as she was now. But what mattered at the moment was that she _was _happy about this. Releasing a quick bright grin in the vehicles direction, she continued up the stairs and into her warm apartment. Not knowing what was ahead in the future...

**A/N: Well, you guys have to admit, this one was faster than the last update FOR SURE. I was thinking about not posting for a bit to be evil and have more of a reason to come up with a new case, as well as hopefully get more reviews. But I wanted to post, so here you go, lol.**

**Also, as I messaged some readers before, I AM continuing this story with new cases to come, as well as small little chapters with Mai/Naru/Gene/Team moments, lol. But all I need is idea's for a new case. I have idea's of my own, but all it is, as I said, is an idea. I don't have any idea on how to make it... pop. Lol, but, yeah, if ANY of you have any idea's on cases/ideas/extra's that I can use, please message me, or tell me in the review that I hope you will post **** So, yeah, thank you SO much for being there through my terrible writing moments, and helping me improve in some way. Thank you! **


	13. Case Two: Prologue

**A/N: Well, here we go :D I'm gonna try out this new case, and somehow, I must say, I'm getting kind of excited to write this because it's something new with twists and turns in the story that even **_**I **_**am not sure where it will lead. But that's the point, right? Well, I'd like to give thanks to the few people that are reading this, and some of the idea's and responses that I also got after posting the latest chapter. Thank you so much! ****Well, here you are...**

**Case Two: Sinister Obsessions**

**Prologue**

_Year 1825_

_**It was a beautiful night that summer. The grass had been neatly and finely cut in preparation, the animals herded into their barns for the evening and the grass moving lazily under the full moons rays. A fine blanket was spread across the grass under the older maple tree with its leaves shivering almost as much as the two lovers underneath it were, sitting closely with hands clasped around one another's, their cheeks brushing together as they spoke in whispers to one another. Even though they knew they need not whisper because they were all alone in the farmers field that summer evening. They both knew the wind hadn't been the cause of the shivers that rippled through one another's body's but the pure anticipation of one another's being in their sights. Gazing into each others eyes dreamily. **_

"_**What must we do if my father and mother hear of this apparent 'elopement'?" The girl said teasingly to her newfound lover as she watched him brush a strand of her olive hair behind her ear.**_

"_**Then I must suffer all the punishments they can come up with till they believe that I am fit to be your husband, my dear." The boy said chivalrously. Knowing of the dangers he was to be taking if he of whom did get caught with the Princess. But also knowing that this knowledge would reach the King and Queen's awareness soon enough if he did indeed present marriage to their daughter, Princess Hime-sama.**_

"_**And how is it that you have presented the idea of marriage, darling?" She peered at him, anticipating what she knew, and hoped, was about to happen.**_

"_**Ah, yes. I haven't yet done you the honour's yet now have I my Princess?" he said slowly as he began to switch his weight onto his right leg.**_

"_**You have not." She said through a smile that she could not help but bear. **_

"_**My dear Hime, would you do the honour of being my-"**_

"_**WHAT IS THIS?" A voice boomed through the ears of the two lovers, both jumping at the sound that broke through the silent joy of the girl.**_

"_**Father!" she cried out as he grabbed her wrist violently and squeezed it in his anger.**_

"_**What are you doing?" he growled, already knowing what he had very much ruined "With a farm boy?" He continued, not letting his daughter have the chance to speak another word.**_

"_**I'm sorry father, **__**Oshiro-san **__**didn't do anything. I swear upon my life!" She cried out as her father gave a glare in the boys direction, his face reddening with rage of a thousand demons as he roared to his guards to capture the boy. The guards, running over, sought out to the capture of young Waotaka who obliged willingly in order to have a word to the King. Intending to request his daughters hand in marriage so that he had the approval for his young sweetheart's happiness. But the King did not listen, for he was too enraged for the boy to even hope of airing his request, knowing the answer would not be to his liking. The girls eyes glistened as she watched her lovers removal from their eyes. Swallowing, hard, as she turned to her father who was already throwing his hands up in the air in distaste. "How could you spend your days with a farm boy?" He asked as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dotted at the sweat that had already begun to pour off his face. A measurement that had been occurring quite often, weeks before the serious plague that had hit Japan begun. "I must say, he must make a million yen littler than you and I make in a day. For you are of royal blood, and would be taking far more responsibility of him than of yourself."**_

"_**But I love him father!" She said pleadingly, her heart shaped face beginning to quiver as her cheeks began to redden and tears began to well up in her emerald eyes. He wasn't going to listen to her, for he wasn't listening at all.**_

"_**But he doesn't love you! He merely see's you as his piggybank to a rich succession." He sighed as though she was the one that was being barbaric.**_

"_**Yes he **_**does**_**. He loves me for me. Unlike the other piggybanks that you believe are better suited to be my husband's! If you would just give him a chance-"**_

"_**Enough!" He yelled angrily, still dotting at the sweat marks that droned down his stubble chin. "You will not take his hand for I will never except him as my successor."**_

"_**If this is of his upbringing-"**_

"_**Enough! Not another word!" Coughing, he brought the handkerchief to his lips, choking out "For you will never marry him and he will never be a part of my family" through his clenched teeth. His stomach impaling, he gave out a wheezy breath before falling to his feet. Gasping out breathlessly at his knee's as the Princess stared, horrified at the scene before her. A guard ran towards them quickly, followed by others as they reached the Kings side and took aid to him. Bringing him to his feet only to pull him in the direction of the carriage that the girl hadn't noticed till then.**_

"_**Father!" she cried out, unable to understand what had just happened. But then again, no one could quite understand what had quite happened that fine summer evening of 1825...**_

_Present Day_

**April**

Mai's head ached.

Not only had she gotten through a hectic enough day with all the reoccurring questions about what had happened earlier that week at the Watanabe residence, but she also had to live with the doubtful stares of her peers. They didn't believe her when she said she wasn't sure about what had happened. About how the person she had apparently "visited" wound up dead after a few hours in her care. But, to be honest, she _really _wasn't sure what had happened.

She had never earned enough guts to bring up the subject to Naru or Gene after the whole ordeal. Especially with so much filing to do as soon as she started her new part time job there. It hadn't been as easy as she had assumed it would be in the beginning. She new that the case work would be difficult, but she hadn't expected there to be so much to _do_. Every afternoon after school hours ended, she'd have to run, literally _run_, to Naru and Gene's office in the outskirts of town. Yes, that's right, _office_. Naru and Gene had an _office _in their care. It just made her even more curious as she worked through file after file, checking off cases that she thought Naru wouldn't even consider dealing with, and piling the ones that she did think he would take. And that wasn't even the half of it. She had to arrange them in alphabetical order because, apparently, he hadn't had enough time to sort them in order since they had opened up the office. There had to be over a hundred files for her to do all on her own. And it didn't help that Naru hadn't even intended in the beginning to tell her how to work things around the office. She had to beg him to help her, because Gene was apparently out of the area for the time being, so she couldn't even rely on Gene either for support. Eventually it had lead her to threaten him that she may accidently shred some of the more "important" files by "accident."

It had worked at least.

Naru was a jerk. How could he expect her to just figure it out on her own? He had said she was an idiot on countless occasions, so why was it that he couldn't realise that and make it a loud easier, and spend less time by telling her what to do?

So as she ran down the city's many streets, _late, _she couldn't help, for _obvious _reasons, screaming out "You stupid Narcisstic!" for all of Japan to hear.

That was, of course, when she ran into someone. Slamming into the shoulder of the form, she fell onto her back and let out a small yelp of distress. Her head throbbing with unnecessary anxiousness at what she knew she had just got herself into. Dazed, she looked up slowly to see a tall form glowering over her. The person's black eyes shimmering in annoyance as they glared darts at her. Looking more closely, she took in his form. Bleak dark brown hair that had been tied back into a ponytail with a dangerous jaw line, she knew that she was in for bad news.

"What's this?" She heard a voice grumble to themself, as another form came into view. This person's eyes held a more lighter emotion, but she couldn't help but shiver at the dark thoughts she knew he had due to the glint in his silvery eyes. Brushing a hand through his dark musky hair, he gave her a smile. A smile that made her want to fumble back into a corner. A corner that, she noticed seconds later, a boy that looked about a year younger than her had already placed himself in. "Ah, hello"

Her form trembling, she moved back ever so slightly to shoot a small glare towards the two boys. Finally recognizing the cruel look in their eyes. A look that was directed to her.

"Ahhh...A cutie with an attitude..." the boy with silvery eyes said perversely.

"I don't enjoy them like that. Too much trouble." The first boy responded with a glare in her direction. What had _she_ done to deserve this? All she was trying to do was get to work and deal with Naru's constant tea attributions. And, recently, his overbearing requests for her to wear a certain type of _proper _attire. What was wrong with what she was wearing? When school ended she didn't have time to go back home to change for work. She _had_ to come in her uniform. Well, at least Gene seemed to agree with what she was saying. Commenting that he thought it was a privilege to see her dressed in her usual outfit outside of the case they had been assigned to at her school previously. Though Naru's words seemed to sting her a bit. Just a bit. Just a really really _really _small bit. So maybe she would consider what he was saying since he _was _her boss. But, then again, Gene was as much her boss as Naru was. So, who knew what would happen. Snapping out of her thoughts just as quickly as she had entered them when the second boy said in an eerily quiet tone that "That's what makes them even more fun."

With that comment, shivering, she took an even larger step back, never taking her eyes off the two of them as she said "Well, I'm sorry for bumping into you. But...-" placing a fake smile on her face she took a weary step to the side, keeping her eyes on their forms. They grinned at her darkly as they followed her forward, step by step, drawing closer and closer...- "-I didn't know they had bullies still at this day in age" she found herself saying as she nodded towards the boy that hung huddled beside the wall. Mentally slapping herself for saying something so provoking in such a terrible situation. The boy looked up then, his green eyes raw with fear and his glasses framing every second of it as he looked at her and shook his head in agonizing seconds. _I have to run _she thought to herself as her heart hammered through her chest _I just walked in at the wrong place at the wrong time. I have to run._ But she couldn't just leave that boy. Even though he didn't seem like he was helping her at that moment by telling her the exact same thing that she was telling herself to do, to run. She couldn't just leave him. Because she knew that he was in an even worse situation than herself. These guys were just hitting on her, and when you sidestepped that though they were probably _beating up_ him.

The second boy chuckled so loudly that she could barely describe it as a laugh, more of a cackle, and watched him raise his hands in an oh-that-hurt-so-badly position. Swallowing, _hard, _she did exactly the thing that she didn't want to do, she took a large step forward. Meeting the second boy face to face on her tipy-toes, as she looked him daringly in his eyes as she mentally pushed away her fear away from her thoughts and form. Trying to look as strong as she wished she was at that very second. Trying to look authorative and knowledgeable. Trying to look like Naru.

"Look," she said as venomously as she could, "I don't know what you're trying to do but I'm not in the mood for this. So if you don't mind..." she waved towards the boy in the corner. Her throat feeling as though she had clawed the very insides of it out "Come on" she mouthed to the boy as soon as the boys sites weren't on her. Their eyes back on her, she put the same strong willed face on herself again and continued "_We _have to get going. Works a callin'" she said with somewhat of a slang. Swallowing once again when the boys didn't say a word. She watched the boy run to her gratifyingly before turning her back to them and pulling the boy along with her by the sleeve of his uniform. "So, till next time, goodbye gentlemen." She said through her clenched teeth as they made their way to the end of the alley and made a dramatic left turn till she pulled herself and the boy following her into a run. Shuddering mentally at the faces she could imagine the two were making at that moment, and what they may be planning. Which may even lead them to deciding to follow the two of them.

Finally, she made it to where she had mentally pictured she was supposed to reach since they had started padding along the sidewalk. A small corner by the lights where many could see them and would notice the sudden change if they were in trouble. At least, she _hoped _that they'd notice the problematic situation that they may be in. Usually she found nobody wanted to get involved anymore, even if it was a beautiful damsel like herself whom was in trouble. But from what she could tell so far, they were safe. No one was lurking in the shadows or following closely from behind, so she took this as a sign that they were in a safe enough area to stop and take a breath of the spring city air.

"A-...Ano..." A voice said uncertainly, cutting her out of her deep thoughts. Turning, she met the gaze of the boy that she had been dragging along. His emerald eyes were glinting slightly with something moist. Tears?

"Yes?" She answered cluelessly, unsure of what she _could _say in such a situation.

"I-...I'm so sorry!" he gasped out suddenly, bowing to her as quickly as the statement had left his lips. His brown hair flopping unevenly to the side, making her almost reach out to fix it.

"What do you mean?" She peered at him, reaching out to touch him awkwardly on the shoulders; hoping he would come up from his bow. But he didn't, instead he answered "Because I dragged you into the situation while I was being so useless, and was helped by you."

"What are you saying?" She swallowed. Starting again because she hadn't liked how uncaring her words had come out. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just walked in by accident and they started bothering me. It's their own fault for harassing kids." She paused, watching as the boy came up from his bow finally, his eyes still moist as he looked at her wearily. Finally, it clicked in "Ah!" she gasped out "That uniform...You go to high school?" she gawked. When she first saw him she had thought he was only a year younger than her; fifteen. But when she saw him crying, she couldn't help but think...

"Am I that shameful?" He cried out, looking embarrassed as he dropped his eyes to the cement, blushing scarlet.

"Shameful?" She repeated, unsure of what he meant as she brought a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"Unmanly..." He corrected himself to a better term for her understanding.

"O-Oh!" She said a bit too loudly, "No! No of course not! It's just you look so young. That's good, because then you won't look like an old man when your-"

"A-Ano!" He interrupted her again "W-What's your name...?" he peered at her, blushing as red as before as he stared at her innocently. Opening his eyes wide, the tears from before no longer as noticeable.

"Mai Taniyama."

"Taniyama-san..." he whispered under his breath slowly, testing the new found foreign name on his tongue.

"And you are?" She interjected, meeting his eyes once more as he brought them from the ground.

"Takeshi, Oshiro Takeshi..."

**A/N: Well, there you go. A terrible chapter by a terrible writer But I'm sure it'll get better than that, I promise you. So, here's a lil sneak peak on the emotional ride that is going to happen in this case...**

**-Jealousy**

**-Love**

**-Terror**

**-Death... Kinda :P**

**-Mysterious incidents**

**-Love triangle...errr, Square, err-**

**- And a hopefully pleasurable experience that I, a writer, would like to make for you**

**Till then... Have a good one :D**


	14. Case Two: Part 1, Guess Who's Arrived?

**A/N: Hey there kids! Just wanted to once again thank all those readers of mine who have been following me since the very beginning, where **_**I **_**can't even read because I get too annoyed with all my spelling errors. So thanks again **

**Well, here you are...**

**Case Two: Sinister Obsession's **

**Part 1**

"Mai!" The normally monotone voice yelled, echoing the small office known as _Shibuya Psychic Research._ For unknown reasons to Mai, that was Naru and Gene's false last name when out of his school's protection. Whatever that meant. The more she questioned the twins history a darker shed of light hid it from her. So she found herself not wanting to ask too many questions, or Naru would quickly ask some of her own. And, let's be honest, some past's are meant to be kept secret. And the small part about her being an orphan? She wasn't ready to tell them that yet. It wasn't because she didn't trust them with the burden of that knowledge; it was just the look of pity she was often presented with from others when they found out. But none of that really mattered at this exact moment because Naru was upset, because... "You're late."

_Way to state the obvious, you narcisstic jerk _"For a very good reason" she managed to spit out. And from the look that he gave her, she couldn't even believe what she was saying.

"I'm not sure that's possible, Mai. Because I seemingly catch you being late on more occasions than one. And all those were '_For good reasons_,' as well. Am I right?" He said sourly, an unusual crease appearing on his forehead. And that only happened, she had noticed, when Naru had other things on his mind that were bothering him.

"Well, I-"

"Don't mind him, Mai-chan" she heard a voice say from her side. Turning to Gene, Naru's identical but total opposite, twin brother. His aqua eyes ablaze with amusement, "He's just in a bad mood today."

"Isn't he always...?" She mumbled to herself, praying for her voice to be low enough for Naru not to hear. Hearing a stiff grumble of sheltered amusement rumble through Gene's chest as he grinned down at her.

"Ah, hello Mai-san" She heard John Brown's upbeat voice reach her ears as she turned and watched him enter the room. Watching him brush a small cherry blossom petal gently from his blonde hair. His pale blue eyes were bright, and some may find curiously pure. And for good reasons, she realised. After all, he _was _a priest. "How was your day today?"

"Hello, John-san. It was good" she smiled lightly at him. Already feeling content by seeing him and the rest of the team there; with Bou-san entering the room from behind John with a weak sigh, asking "Who died?"

"Naru's sense of letting his beautiful assistant off the hook?" she said flatly

"No, no, Mai-chan. What are you saying? We all know that that was never there from the start." He said carelessly loud, causing the group to try and stifle the bubble of laughter that threatened to explode from their chests. Naru shot a glare in their direction, and the group quickly froze as Gene's voice cut in "Now now, brother." He said. Unscathed by the heat of Naru's glare. It became obvious to Mai that he had had many years of practice with it already. "I believe it is only fair to tell them why you're in this mood."

With another slow, longing glare, Naru turned to us. The blue orbs of his eyes shivering over the intensity of his gaze; making her want to break the silence more than anything.

"Don't tell me..." Ryuu's voice broke through the silence, much to Mai's pleasure, "Is Mrs Mori-san coming?"

And just like that, the tension in the air evaporated as though it had never been there in the first place. With Bou-san's shoulders relaxing, and the anxiousness in John-san's eyes disappearing. The whole room seemed to settle down over the knowledge of this newfound information. But that only left one person who was still on the tip of their toes questioning what was going on was... "Who's Mori-san?" Mai asked with curiosity filling her to her ears.

"A friend of Naru and Gene's parents" Bou-san answered her as he side stepped her to face Naru and Gene, "Are your folks coming too?"

"No." was Naru's stiff reply, "But a student under her regard is traveling with her to study the supernatural levels of Japan.Osamu Yasuhara." Said Gene, continuing for his brother.

"Oh," Mai started, feeling stupid for asking but wondering the obvious, "So your family knows about all this?" She waved her hand around the room to describe "this."

"What do you mean, Mai?" Bou-san wondered aloud "You _do _know who their family is, right?"

Mai gave him a look "What do you mean?"

The room grew quiet and abnormally tense. Like she had walked into a sudden battle field that some may even say they _were _in. Especially with the dark gaze that Mai noticed the twins give Bou-san. A look that almost _dared _him to go on, and almost made Mai tell him not to say what he was about to say in fear of catching the mirrored look that Gene was giving him. A look that she had never seen him use before, and scared her. Reminding her of the fact that, though they may be different, both him and Naru _were _brothers. No matter how opposite they appeared.

"Ahhh, well, never mind..." Bou-san droned off, not saying another word as they sat in a familiar silence, once again.

"Um, well, when are they supposed to arrive?" She asked slowly

And as Naru answered her "Today", the front door suddenly burst open. With what Mai believed, and perceived, to be Miss Mori-san and the supposed Yasuhara-san that was supposed to accompany her to Japan, storming in. Her shoulder length hair the colour of magenta flowing evenly to her shoulders as the springs wind broke through the door and entered S.P.R (Shibuya Psychic Research, to be short.) With her taking step by step towards the twins, with everyone making a path for her to walk through. Finally reaching them, she paused. Breathing in a deep breath of air, her pupils dilating as she narrowed her bronze eyes at the brothers. Raising her hands a large _smack _echoed the walls of S.P.R as her hand's came into contact with the twins faces. Her head stretching back with only a red hand forming over the boys faces as proof of there ever being contact in the first place.

"You could have at least greeted your dear onee-san. But when I found out that you didn't even have work and decided not to greet me at the airport and sent Lin-san to get me, now... _isn't that just rude_." She said prudently, her eyes lighting up like small fireworks on New Year's Eve.

_What a powerful person... _Mai thought in awe, _not even a bitter reaction from Naru...Who just walked through our door..?_

"Madoka" Naru started bitterly, with Gene continuing for him to cut off the bitter response that Naru was going to give her, "How good to see you." Gene said, "I thought your flight arrived here at 5:00 p.m?"

"It does" a voice said from behind Mori-san. A matching set of hair and green eyes appearing before them as he sat down a suitcase. "But Miss Mori-san encouraged us to get here in an increasingly fast rate. So we're here."

"It's a fifty minute drive from the airport... and it's only 5:20..." John mumbled in astonishment. Obviously, she was a very amazing person. A person that no one, not even John-san, could get used to.

Lin's figure leaned against the frame of the door then, "As Osamu-kun said. She insisted..."

And so she had.

With everyone now seated around the coffee table, _including Naru, _Mai placed out warm drinks and dessert. Placing a small cranberry Cheesecake that she had picked up at a bakery while she was running to work after Oshiro-san.  
She was late, and she knew she'd have to suck up to at least one of her bosses...

"Mmm," Mori-san's voice rung out suddenly, sounding oddly enough, as similar as to a bell, her voice soft and sweet. It almost became jaw dropping how someone with such a pretty face and a honey coated voice could have hit the Davis twins. Everyone's eyes quickly turned to see what her discomfort or pleasure was about, "What a delicious cup of tea." She gushed loudly, "Did you make this Lin-san?" She peered at him, her eyes showing that she was oblivious to everyone else around her. Did she and Lin-san have a certain history together...?

"No." He said simply as he continued working in his usual area, on the computer. But she couldn't help but catch that he had turned around directly to tell her this, making eye contact. Lin-san never did that, at least, not that she'd seen...

"I believe that was Taniyama-san, Madoka-san." Yasuhara-san said suddenly, his eyes glinting as he looked at her, "Am I right?" he peered at her lightly. The most that she had yet perceived from Yasuhara-san was that he was a kind person. She had no bad feelings or thought's when she was around him; and there was not a grudging indication of him being a bad person. He smiled kindly at them, and never appeared offended by the way Naru acted or spoke. And joked with Bou-san for the most part. And when it all came down to Bou-san's judgement, Mai trusted it more than her own. With him being so clear hearted and headed, she knew he'd make the right assessment of Yasuhara-san. And from that, she knew that he was a decent person. So when he spoke to her so kindly, she couldn't help but be warmed by his trying to please her.

"Um, yeah." Mai said slowly, rubbing the back of her head in an embarrassed fashion and blushing madly as everyone fixed their eyes on her.

"Ah," Mori-san mumbled under her breath, looking up from her tea she searched and found Mai's eyes. Staring deeply into them as she spoke, "So you are the young assistant I've heard so much of."

"I've been mentioned?" She couldn't help asking obliviously.

"Oh yes, on countless occasions." She smiled lightly at her, her teeth pure white "Dr and Mrs Davis have heard so much about you and how you helped in their last case. And I just can't help but overhear." She chuckled lightly to herself as Naru glared one of his icy stares in her direction. Gene remained as silent as the rest of the team. Though she did notice a rosy tint overshadowing the two brothers cheeks. Was that a-..?

"Well then!" Mori-san cut through the short break of silence that had for longed the walls of S.P.R, "Why don't we talk about the case you're being assigned on then?"

"Case?" Mai and the rest of the group peered, with Mori-san looking around dazedly.

"You mean they didn't tell you?" Yasuhara-san questioned them in a shocked manner as he took a finger to his chin in a thoughtful manner similar to Naru's, "Well isn't that a bother... what if they do not wish to participate in this case then...?" He muttered partly to himself and partly to Mori-san. Tapping his chin in a slow steady rhythm that had Mai almost rocking back and forth on her heels in a similar rhythm.

"Not a problem. We'll help out." She heard Bou-san cut in, catching her off guard entirely. Bou-san never agreed so quickly to cases that he had no idea about and not enough information to think much from. And with one look at him she realised another she had never seen Bou-san do before. Flirt. Now that was something she had prayed to Kami-sama that she _would not _see; but apparently she wasn't blessed enough to get off the hook with something such as that. Her day had already been bad enough, but being threatened, checked out, seeing a friend ask out a person that you don't even know and above all else-

"Mai," she heard Gene interrupt her thoughts. Turning to him, she saw his aqua eyes flicker with some kind of emotion as their eyes met. But it quickly became unnoticeable when Naru came into view and stood beside his brother, a parental aura surrounding him, "Are you okay with helping us with this case..?" He asked slowly, testing the sentence on his tongue and apparently not liking the taste of it when his eyes darkened as he ended his sentence.

"What do you mean...?" She cocked her head to the side in a questionable manner as she searched both their eyes curiously, "What would make this any different from anything else we've experienced?"

Naru cut in, "What my brother means is that he disbelieves you are ready for another case. That you are too unprepared to deal with something of this element after what the previous case had consisted of."

"Element..?" She mumbled questionably, feeling suddenly irritated by Naru's tone. He was picking on her, making fun of her for what he already knew. She could handle it; she had before when she was abducted and practically killed and she'd do it again. Naru was testing her in his own way, and she didn't like being his play-toy of emotions. "And don't worry _Mr Davis_. I assure you, I can handle something as small as _ghosties_."

Naru, being Naru, didn't show the slightest bit of emotion but just followed along with what she said and turned away. His eyes only showing the satisfaction of getting her agreement to join the case. And possibly bold amusement at her trying to belittle him in a certain manner. He and everyone else knew that was impossible... There had been something that Gene had intended on telling Mai in the first place but didn't get the chance to when Naru caught on to what he was doing and came and interrupted him.

Sitting down with another pot of tea on the oven boiling, Bou-san continued his ministrations, but didn't seem to catch on to Mori-san's un-interest in him. And Mai already knew that it was Lin-san who had tookin her thoughts as she nodded along with whatever Bou-san said uncharacteristically and uncaring. And not only that, Mai already knew Lin-san had felt the same way. Glancing over at someone may not seem like much to others, but when it came to Lin-san, that meant he noticed your presence above his computer which he typed loudly in the small room. She just couldn't help but wonder as she prepared the tea why they hadn't got together yet. They must have known that they were both crazy about each other, right?

Finishing the tea silently, she turned to the small group that circled the small coffee table as she walked up to them and placed it down, handing it out to everyone until she finally got to Naru and Gene's cups. With Naru searching through a case file and Gene cowering over him, you could tell that they were lost in thought and wouldn't be coming out for a while. She had just given Naru his dark sugarless tea and Gene his slightly sweetened but dark tea when John-san's voice awoke her from her daydreaming, "So why were you late today, Mai-chan? You often do take quite good time and consideration in not being late each day."

"Too bad she finds herself abnormally late and holding back the work that must be processed through the day." Naru said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear across the room.

Mai, irritated, answered "Well, _Naru_, I am _so _sorry that I am such a poor sport. I must be quite the lazy bum, eh? Working throughout the day at school only to stay after school hours to help with the student council and come running here." She said sourly, continuing, "And, yes, I'm sorry John-san. I was late because I came into trouble on my run here" She said as non-chalantly as she could. She wondered how they would react when they found out...-

"Trouble?" Gene broke in somewhat worriedly.

"Oh, yes. Nothing big just..."

"Say it, Mai" Naru cut in slightly grudgingly, slightly...-?

"Well these guys started hitting on me and kind of were bullying this kid, so-"

"Oh, no." Bou-san cut through, shaking his head tiredly in a fatherish manner, "This couldn't have ended well..."

"Well, it did." She said quickly, "I'm here... after all." Grinning, she continued, "So I just helped out this kid and he told me his name and I told him mine and we go to the same school and everything though I didn't really notice because he's so young looking, and-"

"And?" The whole room inquired.

"Well... he... he kind of asked me out...?"

**A/N: And so there we have it, the real**_**er **_**start to our case. Not very good, sorry guys. I'll be honest. This case, in my optinion, isn't going to be anywhere near the last. Its going to happen outside of home/school's and its just going to revolve around our characters and... well... you'll see what I'm saying later on if you continue to read. Thank you so much for waiting so patiently and I'll try my best to post the next chapter to this as soon as I possibly can. Till then, love you guys ;)**


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